Representatives of NGOs pay a visit to Washington. They have already held meetings at the State Department and the Marshall Fund, where they have discussed the case of Rustavi 2, elite corruption, nepotism and election problems. The civil sector calls on the United States to look closely to the challenges of democracy in Georgia, including the issue of media freedom.

"They want to know,m if money, sent to Georgian government is spent on implementation of records. We have discussed the corruption scandal that has taken place during the last period. Our main recommendation is to start a fight against elite corruption from the beginning, " - said Eka Gigauri, executive director of Transparency International Georgia.

According to the Deputy Executive Director of the Open Society Georgia Foundation, it is not a situation when the leading broadcasters are fully controlled, but the existing circumstances give reasons of concern and not only regarding Rustavi 2.

"There are alarming signs in the small broadcasters, which show the government"s attempts to change the owners or influence editorial policy,"- said Khatia Jinjikhadze, the Media Program"s Manager of the Open Society Georgia Foundation.

According to Eka Gigauri, if not Rustavi 2, society would not be informed about the alleged corruption of high-ranking officials.

"While we sit here, "Rustavi 2" broadcasted a series of recordings in Georgia in which the conversations were about alleged corruption, but the law enforcers have not made any convincing statements in this regard,"- Eka Gigauri said.

The Ambassador of Georgia had to answer all statements, made by NGOs today.
"Until 2012 we had three channels, fully controlled by the government. Today, after switching to digital broadcasting, Georgia has more than 40 channels. None of these channels refrains to criticize the government. We also have politically affiliated opposition television stations, but this is the nature of media freedom and democratic development, "Davit Bakradze said