Five women have publicly accused Shalva Ramishvili, a key Georgian Dream propagandist and a high-profile media personality, of sexual harassment. Ramishvili is the co-founder and head of PosTV, a mouthpiece for Georgian Dream while positioning itself as a platform for People's Power, an anti-Western group linked to Ivanishvili.
Viktor Japaridze, a member of the group and one of the initiators of the Russian-style anti-NGO 'foreign agent' law, owns a majority stake in the station.
Women began coming forward with stories of sexual harassment after Mako Jabua, a former Tabula journalist, publicly accused Ramishvili of essentially persistently offering her job in exchange for sex.
Formula TV released an audio recording from 2018 by Anania Gachechiladze, a young entrepreneur, in which Mr Ramishvili sexually harasses her.
Ramishvili has already been convicted of sexual harassment in 2018, when his former employee and TV presenter Tatia Samkharadze sued him and won the case. Mr Ramishvili was fined 2,000 GEL. After losing at both the Tbilisi City Court and the Court of Appeals, Ramishvili decided not to pursue the case further.
In a separate incident, PosTV called the police, claiming that UNM Political Council member Dimitri Chikovani had kidnapped Ms Samkharadze at his home, an allegation Samkharadze denied, saying she had been subjected to "psychological terror" by government propaganda.
Police, accompanied by PosTV crews, raided Mr Chikovani's home, who did not allow the crews to enter his apartment, resulting in him being charged with "obstructing journalistic activity".
Critics say Georgian Dream has mobilized state resources and institutions to terrorize Mr Ramishvili's victims and save his image.
Georgian Dream has fully supported Mr Ramishvili, calling the sexual harassment allegations a "fascist campaign".
Mamuka Mdinaradze, leader of GD's parliamentary faction and the party's key spokesperson, said the allegations were not credible because they were published several years after the alleged incident.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, MP and head of the parliament's human rights committee, said the allegations should not be based on "stereotypes", while Nino Tsilosani, MP and head of the Gender Equality Council, warned against jumping to conclusions and that justice should not be served by the "morality police".
Ramishvili himself has welcomed Georgian Dream's support, claiming to be the victim of a "smear campaign by the NGO sector".
"PosTV has always prioritized conservative values such as the homeland, religion, family values and dignity," Ramishvili's TV said in a statement.
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