Georgian MFA: journalist distorts the words of the head of OSCE mission about election

The journalist has misunderstood the words of Dieter Boden, head of the long-term OSCE observation mission, about the election in Georgia. This was stated on January 11 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Georgia, where Mr Boden was invited "to give explanations in connection with the publication based on his interview" in the German "Frankfurter Rundschau" newspaper.

The "News-Georgia" reports that the Georgia's MFA asserts that, according to Dieter Boden, the newspaper had failed to publish his main message that the OSCE mission of observers did not change its main estimate of the presidential election in Georgia, which had been fixed on January 6 in the preliminary report of the OSCE mission of observers.

Mr Boden has informed the MFA representative that next week the OSCE mission plans to promulgate an interim report, and the final estimate of the presidential election will be ready later in February.

In his turn, Florian Hassel, the "Frankfurter Rundschau" correspondent, who had taken that interview from Dieter Boden, asserts that he has correctly used all the words of the OSCE mission head about violations during the election.

"If someone is saying today that I have misunderstood him, it's just horseshit. I wrote exactly what he said," the journalist told on air of the "Echo Moskvy" Radio. According to the correspondent, Mr Boden said that "the observers were reporting about essential violations, including violent falsifications."

"While talking to me, he used the word 'falsification' twice," Mr Hassel has emphasized, having added that the newspaper's editorial board received no official papers from the OSCE, and learnt about the claims only from mass media.