Georgian court jails TV presenter and his boss

TBILISI, Mar 30 (Reuters) A Georgian court jailed a television presenter and one of the channel's executives for attempting to blackmail a parliamentarian.

Presenter Shalva Ramishvili, a founder of Tbilisi's 202 channel, was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday and the channel's general director, David Kokhreidze, was jailed for three years, the Rustavi-2 television station reported.

Ramishvili was detained in August by police, who had obtained a secretly recorded video of him receiving money from Koba Bekauri, a parliamentary deputy. Kokhreidze was in the flat where the money changed hands.

Bekauri told investigators that Ramishvili had threatened to air what he called compromising material if the deputy refused to pay him.

''Shalva was sentenced to four years in prison, and my brother to three years, both for the blackmail of Bekauri,'' Kokhreidze's brother, Goga, told Reuters by telephone.

There was no immediate comment from the authorities.

Both Ramishvili and Kokhreidze pleaded not guilty.

Ramishvili supported the 2003 ''Rose Revolution'' which propelled President Mikhail Saakashvili to power, but the 202 channel also gave air time to opposition candidates and critics of the Georgian leadership.

Some journalists have complained that critical voices are being squeezed by the authorities. Opposition politicians said the court's decision was politically motivated ''This is a political decision by the authorities and Saakashvili,'' said Zviad Dzidziguri, an opposition deputy.

After Ramishvili's arrest, Bekauri was investigated by a special parliamentary commission, which found he had not broken the law. However he decided to leave parliament of his own accord.

202 is a privately owned television channel that is broadcast to the capital, Tbilisi.

REUTERS CH KP1002