On February 1, Facebook page კარდჰუ (Kardhu) posted a photo of Iveri Melashvili, a cartographer and former state expert accused of attempted land ceding to Azerbaijan. The photo is accompanied by a quote attributed to Iveri Melashvili: “Luckily, I do not watch Imedi TV; I would simply get annoyed after seeing a caption ‘Gareji is Georgia’.” Kardhu refers to Facebook page Special Forces / სპეცრაზმი as its source. The latter, in turn, posts Iveri Melashvili’s video accompanied by the same quotes allegedly belonging to the former state expert. In the video, a reporter asks Melashvili whether he watched Imedi TV in jail. The latter responds that luckily, he did not watch TV, because he would get annoyed after seeing a caption “Gareji is Georgia.”
On February 2, Facebook page რეალობა (Reality) spread a video collage, containing Melashvili’s above quotes and a fragment from TV Pirveli’s program რეაქცია (Reaction), where the cartographer says the following words: “How is it yours, when it is not yours.” The video manipulatively leaves the impression that Iveri Melashvili denies that David Gareji belongs to Georgia.
Various Facebook pages are manipulatively spreading the video fragment as well as the accompanying quote taking it out of context and leaving the impression that Melashvili does not recognize David Gareji as part of Georgia and even gets annoyed when hearing about it. In fact, the video fragment has been cut out in a way that absolutely changes Melashvili’s point of view. In particular, in the unedited comments aired by Mtavari Arkhi TV, Melashvili notes that he would get annoyed after seeing Imedi TV’s caption, because the fact that “Gareji is Georgia” is beyond any doubt.
What does Melashvili say in the TV story?
On January 31, Mtavari Arkhi TV program Post Factum aired a story, according to which inmates have no opportunity to get information from pro-opposition Mtavari Arkhi TV; instead, they can watch pro-government Imedi TV programs. Asked by a reporter, whether he watched Imedi TV programs and whether he saw a caption “Gareji is Georgia”, Melashvili responded that he did not see this caption and even if he saw it, he would get annoyed because Gareji is definitely part of Georgia. The phrase, where Melashvili says that “Gareji is Georgia and that’s beyond any doubt” has been cut out in the fragment spread by Facebook pages that fully changes Melashvili’s point of view.
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Version provided by Special Forces / სპეცრაზმი and Kardhu |
Full version of Iveri Melashvili’s interview aired by Mtavari Arkhi TV |
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“Luckily, I do not watch Imedi TV; I would simply get nervous after seeing a caption ‘Gareji is Georgia’.” |
Reporter: When you were watching Imedi TV and seeing a caption “Gareji is Georgia”… Iveri Melashvili: By the way, I was not watching Imedi TV … Reporter: Have not you seen that caption at least once? Iveri Melashvili: No, that never happened… and that’s good, because I would simply get annoyed, because Gareji is Georgia and that’s beyond any doubt. But … |
Melashvili also notes in the story that “ultra-patriotism” ruins the country and limits its possibilities for legal negotiations. On January 29, Iveri Melashvili spoke about the problem of ultra-patriotism and populism, noting that David Gareja is an integral part of Georgian culture and religion and nobody should even argue against it. However, he continued, this territory is not fully confirmed as Georgian territory that needs lengthy negotiations and cautious approach instead of making ultra-patriotic and populist statements.
Spread of the post
The video posted by Special Forces / სპეცრაზმი was spread by Facebook page საქართველოს ფსიქიატრიული რესპუბლიკა (Psychiatric Republic of Georgia) and shared to public group: “თავისუფალი სიტყვის პარტიზანები” (Partisans of Free Speech).
On February 2, the same video with a caption was published by Facebook page მამული, ენა, სარწმუნოება (Homeland, Language, Religion) as a sponsored post.
Facebook profile Levan Nakashidze who hides his own identity also shared the video with an identical caption to the group პროტესტი! Protest! Протест!
About the sources
Special Forces / სპეცრაზმი
he Facebook page was created on November 28, 2015 and as of today, it has about 15,000 likes. The page mainly shares military news and posts, but recently it also shared the posts related to David Gareji and the cartographers’ case, including Melashvili’s comments made on TV Pirveli that was later taken by various actors out of context and spread manipulatively.
კარდჰუ (Kardhu)
The Facebook page was created on July 23, 2017. It spreads hate speech against national, sexual and other minorities, also incites Euro-skepticism and mistrust towards NATO. The Myth Detector periodically verifies disinformation and manipulative reports spread by Kardhu. It has published a number of publications about it.
საქართველოს ფსიქიატრიული რესპუბლიკა (Psychiatric Republic of Georgia)
The page was created on July 15, 2019. It has recently spread disinformation about vaccines. Moreover, it publishes posts against Iveri Melashvili, supports Alt-Info and Zviad Tomaradze.
რეალობა (Reality)
The Facebook page was created on October 17, 2016. In its “About us” section, the page notes that it would post interesting videos, photos, funny stories; however, along with this content, the page also spreads the posts discrediting political opposition and Mtavari Arkhi TV. In recent days, the page published Iveri Melashvili’s comments taken out of context and spread manipulatively by various actors.
მამული, ენა, სარწმუნოება (Homeland, Language, Religion)
The page was created on January 8, 2020. Besides religious content and various legends, the page publishes the posts discrediting the opposition.
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