Military Crackdown in Republic of Georgia

(Reuters)

Update 2:40pm EST: We've edited the text of the IM a bit to make it easier to read.

Also, the person in Georgia has posted some thoughts at her own blog.

UPDATE, 1:50pm EST: The Prime Minister came on another television station (Rustavi 2) and reported that Imedi was closed down because it was no longer a civil affair and it had become a military situation so information had to be filtered. And all TV stations could come back online after the situation had been resolved.
---
Michael Cecire: I think this may mean the Georgian government is seeing this increasingly not as civil unrest but as a geopolitical issue - probably Russian attempts to engineer a coup [conjecture] - and may be taking commensurate steps. Could mean war or something like it.

Via Instapundit, the BBC has updates.
*****

The following was sent to me by a friend, Michael Cecire, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Georgia for approximately a year and maintains contacts with Georgians and expatriates still living in the country. First is an email message from Michael, then an IM exchange he had with a friend in Tbilisi.

Please forgive the rough editing: we're rushing to get this out.
Winfield Myers

From Michael Cecire:

Georgia has recently been racked by protests from the recently united opposition parties demanding that the Western-leaning administration of US-educated Mikheil Saakashivili step down.

Just recently, Georgian police commandos raided and took over the independent, ostensibly opposition-leaning, television station 'Imedi.'

From a former Peace Corps Volunteer currently living in Tbilisi, Georgia:

A TV executive told the two anchors to go and sat down and said that they were being taken over by special forces...and he said 'please help us to all international organizations' and that he doesn't think anyone in Georgian can stop this. He said, "You all know what Imedi has been doing. You know what kind of people we are and we need your help."

She also is reporting that the police commandos have taken control of the station's staff and was holding them prisoner on the first floor "with guns to their heads." The television executive then asked for the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church to intervene and said:

"It sounds like people might be hurt..people are shouting' and he said 'I dont know what to say, but they are here so I hope we will be back soon' and then he got up.

Moments later the broadcast from Imedi was cut off.

Here's the Instant Message exchange:

11:55 AM X: okay
?
hold ON
crazyness happening
woah
11:56 AM so the police just entered Imedi television station
and told them to shut down
i think
11:57 AM there is guy there now saying that everyone was taken down to the second floor and is being held with guns
this is insane
sorry I didnt mean to not pay attention to what you were saying
we can talk about anything you want :)
11:58 AM me: holy
are you serious
imedi!?!
X: yeah
i think this is bad
...
11:59 AM me: yeah
[expletive]
why??
12:00 PM X: well the government thinks Imedi is controlled by the opposition (cause batarkatsishvili controls it.. or did)
but i dont know why they are shutting it down
they have been doing the same reporting today that everyone else was
this is crazy
12:01 PM me: oh god
12:02 PM but even so how can the president justify that even if the opposition controls it??
X : I don’t know
me: he’s got to know he's [expletive] himself by doing this in the long run
12:03 PM unless he truly believes that the opposition has a chance of taking control
there goes the NATO imap
12:06 PM X: yeah.. I think this is way more than people realize
me: I’m emailing my contact at the telegraph now
X: and I think the opposition had a really bad plan
me: give me whatever information you can
12:07 PM X: I don’t know.. cause i spend help my time telling [witheld] and [withheld] that this is insane.. and they think they should go protest
me: don’t
this is bad
very bad
X: so I don’t know.. a TV executive came on Imedi
me: if they protest they could get hurt
X: and said that they were being taken over
12:08 PM and that they were begging for help
from everyone
because now the government has proven that its a dictator

…

12:12 PM me: if the government is going to go this far
they could hurt people
X : but people are fighting and beating the police too
12:13 PM X: I don’t know, Mike.. I mean... i think the government is making some bad moves
me: I heard about rubber bullets
yeah I agree
X: but the opposition was really really stupid to do this
me: I thought Saakashvili was brighter than this
X: I mean.. they could have put energy into upcoming elections
but they have NO plan, NO platform, they NEVER discuss issues
me: yeah I know
X: because they don’t have any idea how to make things better
they just think a revolution is the way to fix things
me: their demands are pretty unreasonable
and unconstitutional
X: but it Saakashvili steps down
me: but taking over a TV station??
12:14 PM X: this country will be [expletive]
me: this is nuts
I know
I just sent a couple emails to some media contacts i have
X : but I don’t know... i mean also today there were all these things on TV recordings and video of the opposition leaders meeting with Russian diplomats and spies and stuff
me: I heard about that
X: and Misha [President Saakashvili] says that they are being controlled by Russia
me: do you buy it? its happened before
12:15 PM X: yeah.. actually i think its possible
me: but its just so convenient
X: I think someone big is controlling is
it
me : that it comes out now
X: because early elections was not worth that much time and money for protesting
they wanted to start this
me: this may be bigger than this
oh [expletive]
you're right
Russia
X: I don’t know
12:16 PM I mean it also could be totally paranoid
but you know how people are here
its like.. they aren’t happy.. so the only thing they know to do is have a revolution
me: yeah
X : they wont just wait for the elections
and its such a mistake
they could have just waited one year and spent time on building their case against him
but they started this...
and they have just totally [expletive] themselves
12:17 PM and I don’t know why the government is acting this way... it doesnt really fit with anything either
maybe Imedi faked it
I don’t know
12:18 PM me: it really has to be the Russians
that sounds so Georgian but
X: I know... well they had all these tapes.. opposition telling them secrets and them saying what to do next and stuff
me: the Russians have been colluding with certain opposition figures for awhile
and this is exactly what the Russians want
12:20 PM X: yeah
me: Okay tell me exactly what just happened
I'm using your testimony for a story
12:21 PM X: you mean about Imedi?
or the other stuff
me: Imedi
X: now tons of people are outside the Imedi station
12:22 PM A TV executive told the two anchors to go
and sat down
and said that they were being taken over
by special forces... i think
like... swat kind of I think
anyway
and he said please help us to all international organizations
he said he doesn’t think anyone in Georgian can stop this.
12:23 PM me: yeah by the police commandos
X : he said You all know what Imedi has been doing. You know what kind of people we are. and we need your help
or something like that
but I don’t know cause that’s not an exact translation
but point it
he begged for help
and called this government a dictatorship
me: can I use your name
12:24 PM X: um
I guess
don’t quote me though
I don’t know what I’m saying
ask [withheld]
and he can give you a better translation
me: He’s not on
12:25 PM X : [withheld] says"
Targamadze is the director of Imedi
there is a news show
they were in the middle of talking about recent events
when suddenly these special forces (like SWAT) ran into this building of Imedi
12:26 PM all day long Imedi has been telling that they have pressure being put on them because of the details of what they are showing
me: did you see it on Television?
X : so all day long Imedi was saying they had some information that they would be taken over
12:27 PM so in this show the director said on TV ... he asked for everyone in the world and every legal organization to pay attention and he asked the president to not hurt anyone in the station
and that they were lying on the floors
with guns pointed at them
and he asked the church to help
and he was saying that all these year Imedi has shown the truth..
12:28 PM and he said they were close to the entrance
and he heard that it sounds like people might be hurt..
people are shouting
and he said I don’t know what to say . but they are here
so I hope we will be back soon
and then he got up
and left
and no
we didn’t see anything
but the guy sitting there
12:29 PM and now opposition is there in Imedi
sorry I was trying to type everything she was saying
me: okay its fine but is Imedi still broadcasting?
X: no
there is nothing
nothing
it was totally shut down
12:30 PM who are you writing for?
12:32 PM uh and they also shut down Caucasian... or we don’t know.. its not known.. but its not on anymore
okay
um
so they let the journalists go
from Imedi
12:33 PM but they took away all their phones
that’s what [withheld] just said
12:35 PM me: okay
i just sent a brief bit
12:36 PM X : so the journalists are being held behind these bars in the courtyard
me: how are you seeing this?
X: and we can see them and they are yelling through the bars
Borjomi TV was turned off

…

X: okay so Rustavi [another television station] says
they arrested Giorgi Targamadze
Kakha Kokhava
and someone else
Imedi heads
people are collecting around Imedi
woah
people are being beaten by the police outside the station

Update: Here is a brief primer on recent Georgian history:

In 2003 massive grassroots protests brought down the corrupt, authoritarian government of then-President Eduard Shvardnadze, an hardended ex-Soviet apparatchik, and saw the elevation of the US-educated Mikheil Saakashvili, who had been courted by Shevardnadze to join the government after finishing his studies at Columbia University. The 'Rose Revolution,' as it was dubbed, marked a fundamental shift in the strategically-located country's geopolitical position from Russian orbit to being intrinsically aligned with the EU and the United States.

It was not long before high profile disagreements over Russian de facto support for two northern breakaway regions – Abkhazia and South Ossetia – raised tensions between the two countries and, by default, between Russia and the United States. These tensions have amounted to a variety of embargoes levied against Georgia (which was highly dependent on Russia as an export market), occasional accusations of shelling, and much publicized reports of intense Russian clandestine activities meant to bring down pro-Western government.

The Georgian opposition since 2003 has been famously fragmented, but recently agreements created a more unified front, presenting the first serious political resistance to Saakashvili's dominating United National Movement. It was not long before protests to the government's power began, which has lead to government declarations of opposition-Russian collusion.

Update 3:37pm EST: The International Herald Tribune has posted a detailed article about the crackdown.