Interference in media affairs is inadmissible This, first of all, damages the country"s image significantly -media experts respond to the report of the US State Department, which speaks about Rustavi 2"s case and general media environment in Georgia. The document emphasizes the concerns of government intervention in critical media, as well as the problems of media pluralism and judicial independence.

In the context of the case of Rustavi 2, the State Department"s report directly indicates that the government uses the court for pressure on critical media.

Director of Georgian Association of Reforms says that steps taken by the government, even with Rustavi 2, are aimed at restricting media independence. Paata Gaprindashvili thinks that there is still a chance to correct this situation and the government should use it.

The chairman of the "Democratic Initiative of Georgia" says that the US Department of State report mentioned the same problems which the third sector often spoke about.

"The problems that the US State Department sees are the problems that we used to talk about. These are important challenges for media freedom. Of course, the state is still the leader in terms of freedom of speech, but at the same time we should understand that this leadership is maintained because we have an important big TV company, Rustavi 2, which is voicing critical towards the government opinion in the society," said Giorgi Mshvenieradze.

GYLA has also responded to the report. Sulkhan Saladze says that the government should pay special attention to media pluralism.

"The circumstance that Rustavi"s case still remains to be the subject of interest in the report of the department indicates the significance of this topic," Sulkhan Saladze said.