Georgian Papers Go Blank in Protest Against Photographer 'Spies' Arrest

Posted Monday, July 18, 2011 12:10 pm

By: Tom Parfitt | The Guardian

Several major newspapers and websites in Georgia have published their front pages without pictures in a coordinated protest against the arrest of three photographers accused of spying for Russia.

Giorgi Abdaladze, a stringer for the Associated Press newswire; Zurab Kurtsikidze of the European Pressphoto Agency; and Irakli Gedenidze, the personal photographer of Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's president, were detained in the early hours of 7 July.

All three were charged with espionage and have reportedly confessed to photographing secret documents, including details of Saakashvili's itinerary, and selling them to Russian military intelligence. They face up to 12 years in prison in a trial due to start on 1 September.

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Georgian Papers Go Blank in Protest Against Photographer 'Spies' Arrest

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