I can assure you that as long as I remain president of Georgia there will be no threat to freedom of speech

President Shevardnadze

Staff at the station said the agents who carried out the raid had a court order to examine the company's financial books.

However the management of Rustavi-2 said a recent inspection of the company's financial affairs had revealed no irregularities and it accused the government of exerting open political pressure.

A leading journalist for the station, Georgi Sanaya, was murdered in July following such investigations.

The State Security Ministry later said the search had no political background.

Search for evidence

The agents arrived at the TV's offices on Tuesday evening in search of evidence of tax evasion.

They were met by a crowd of the station's supporters and reportedly denied entry to the building.

The TV station had been critical of Mr Schevednadze

Local media quoted the head of the State Security Ministry's investigations department, Malkhaz Salaqaia, as saying that the demonstrators were trying to give company officials time to destroy important financial documents.

But Rustavi-2 director general Nika Tabatadze said the company had undergone a tax audit a week earlier and was clear of any debt to the state.

"This all is clearly happening on a political order from the authorities," he said.

Parliament speaker Zurab Zhvania described the raid as "a clear act of political score-settling and political persecution".

Anti-corruption pledge

President Shevardnadze said that freedom of speech would not be questioned.

"I can assure you that as long as I remain president of Georgia there will be no threat to freedom of speech."

Mr Shevardnadze, a former Georgian Communist Party leader and Soviet foreign minister, was re-elected as president in 2000 with a pledge to wage war on poverty and corruption.

But correspondents say his dealings with the media could be a crucial indicator of how he intends to carry out his policies.