Several Georgian online media on Monday replaced traditional photos with the word "protest" as a token of support to photojournalists who were recently detained on espionage charges.
Four photojournalists, including Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's personal photographer and his wife, were detained in Georgia on July 7. They were accused of providing sensitive information to an "organization operating under the patronage of a foreign state's intelligence service."
Three of the arrested Georgian photographers, Georgy Abdaladze, Zurab Kurtsikidze and Irakli Gedenidze, on July 9 were accused of espionage.
The protest media campaign was organized by the Georgia Press Association; such acclaimed agencies as Interpressnews, GHN, Pirveli and others have already joined it.
A letter signed by more than 40 Georgian news outlets said: "Georgian photo reporters Abdaladze, Gedenidze and Kurtsikidze are detained in spite of the fact that no evidence proving their guilt has been provided so far."
"Forced confessionary statements which have been received [from the photojournalists] in dubious circumstances can not convince us that they were really engaged in espionage," the letter said, calling the arrests "a revenge and prosecution for covering the truth."
