TBILISI -- Hundreds of people have rallied in the Georgian capital to support the embattled television channel -- Rustavi-2.
Protesters gathered in front of the TV station’s headquarters in Tbilisi as well as the city’s main court building on October 22, calling the ongoing court hearings over the television channel’s ownership a government-orchestrated clamp down of media ahead of parliamentary elections next year.
Rustavi-2 has been locked in an ongoing ownership standoff for several weeks after a court froze the broadcaster's assets in August following a move by a businessman close to the ruling Georgian Dream coalition to reclaim control over the channel.
The court in Tbilisi is expected to rule over the popular broadcaster's ownership on October 23.
Founded in 1994, Rustavi-2 is Georgia's biggest and arguably the country's most popular television station.