Democracy & Freedom Watch

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia's president Mikheil Saakashvili says he is appointing Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili as new prime minister. Saakashvili announced ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Heavy rain led to flooding in Georgia’s western Samegrelo region, causing material damages. Blocked roads prevented cleanup ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia's foreign debt has increased by USD 128.9 million since fourth quarter of 2011 and is now ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A new report shows that President Saakashvili turned his back on Georgian farmers in order to develop ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - One day after President Saakashvili met regional governors and told them to guarantee that the election process ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian parliament today passed the new law which is meant to make television more diverse ahead ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Tbilisi Appeals Court upheld the city court's decision in the case of opposition billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili's citizenship. This ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian opposition billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili has complained to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Georgian Dream spokesperson Tina ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – An opposion party in Georgia warns that a law meant to create diversity in media will lead ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is coming on another visit to Georgia in September, less than ...

TBILISI, The International Republican Institute (IRI) is sending a long-term observer mission to Georgia, which will arrive on July 18. Resident ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Thursday called in the press to outline what America is contributing to ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – President Saakashvili says Georgia's integration with Europe is an irreversible process, and he is sure that there ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian police have arrested two members of the opposition Georgian Dream movement for having tried to "recruit" ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Tina Khidasheli, one of the leaders of the opposition Georgian Dream coalition says the government is preventing ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - National Bureau of Enforcement has seized Bidzina Ivanishvili’s 100 percent share in Cartu Group and Cartu Bank ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Russia will leave South Ossetia and Abkhazia sooner than anyone can imagine, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili says. The ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia's foreign trade grew by 19 percent in the first five months of 2012, compared with last ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A scuffle broke out Tuesday while opposition billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili was campaigning in a small village near ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The ombudsman in Georgia Tuesday asked the chief prosecutor to investigate suspected cases of prisoner mistreatment at ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Several groups in Georgia Tuesday demonstrated against ongoing torture in the country's prisons. 140 prisoners died in prison ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Poland will send observers for the parliamentary elections in Georgia. The Polish observers will come as part of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Parties in Bidzina Ivanishvili's opposition bloc may have their bank accounts seized. Tina Khidasheli, one of the Georgian ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A group of internal refugees in Georgia today sat down in front of parliament and began a ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A draft law to let small and independent TV stations get national distribution contains a loophole. The text ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili has renewed his old election pledge about getting his country into NATO, as ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia once again draws attention to an unprecedented Russian military exercise that is planned for September and ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia will enforce media diversity, but only for sixty days, according to a new draft law. The draft ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – NATO's Deputy Secretary General is to visit Georgia on June 28. Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Davit Jalaghania announced ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A legislative initiative to provide for more diverse media in Georgia continues to gather support as the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition in Georgia claims the Saakashvili regime fired 50 policemen because of their political views, but ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia says it is ready for dialogue with Georgia in case someone else ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A movie about the Russo-Georgian war in 2008 is causing controversy among film critics and on social ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A group of experts from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has arrived in Georgia to prepare a ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia has enforced new tough rules that make it prohibited to bring cell phones and other recording ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The recent criticism against Swedish telecom giant Teliasonera's cooperation with totalitarian regimes in the former Soviet Union ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A leading lawmaker in Georgia has modified a statement he made yesterday, that the government will support ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has been fined USD 45 million but refuses to pay, says he doesn’t own ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Nodar is a refugee from Abkhazia, the breakaway Georgian republic. He has lived with his family in ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – After the U.S. State Department published a report on human trafficking which indicated Georgia as a site ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A leading lawmaker in Georgia says he is positive to a new law proposal that would diversify ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Police Thursday night seized 300 000 satellite dishes in several locations around the country. This will prevent ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – What is the Georgian opposition? We give you the facts about what groups Bidzina Ivanishvili has recruited ...

There is a deficit of knowledge about what is going on in Abkhazia, says Alexander Cooley, professor of political science ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - It was just another day in court for the lawyers of Bidzina Ivanishvili, in a series of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Police in Georgia Thursday entered the offices of a company affiliated with Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire who ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian authorities are starting to seize the property of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. (Article has been updated.) A prosecutor ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A new report by the U.S. State Department paints a dire picture of victims of human trafficking ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Two of the largest mining companies in Georgia have been taken over by Russian owners. The owner of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Four months away from an important election, the ruling party in Georgia has passed a new law ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.8 percent in first quarter of 2012 compared to the same ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A new report shows that Georgian courts do not works as intended, and judges are sometimes more ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – President Mikheil Saakashvili says his first priority is the development of agriculture. Manana Manjgaladze, the president's spokesperson, said ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Refugees in Georgia once more demonstrated for ther rights Tuesday in front of the Refugee Ministry building. About ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – In the first five months of 2012, Georgia increased its trade with other countries, but had a ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Spanish police have busted a ring of suspected Georgian burglars. The website Crime Scene Spain reports that police ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A computer programmer who went missing more than a week ago has returned to his home. Mamuka Jibladze ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Monday the deadline ran out for opposition financier Bidzina Ivanishvili to pay a USD 45 million fine. Tbilisi ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The ruling party in Georgia defends its policy of not interfering in the television sector to provide ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The United States might might provide military assistance to Georgia's air and sea defenses. According to a common ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The outgoing US Ambassador to Georgia criticized the lack of diversity in Georgian television before an important ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A former employee of the Education Ministry went missing seven days ago. The disappearance happened at 2 ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia's Interior Ministry accuses an opposition advisor of having tried to bribe a policeman into recording what ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition Georgian Dream movement Sunday held its third rally, this time in a small town in ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian opposition financier Ivanishvili's Channel 9 has launched an Internet news service, with scores of reporters around ...

It would be strange if the things were different, it would confuse the classics; ad fontes: power corrupts; absolute power ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – New questions are raised about the Saakashvili regime's methods to secure election victory as two of his ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition financier Bidzina Ivanishvili's TV station was subject to further difficulties Saturday as his distributor was ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Appeals Court in Tbilisi will June 21 hear the appeal of Bidzina Ivanishvili, after he lost ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The appeals court in Tbilisi has decreased reduced to half a fine issued to the opposition billionaire ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – An investor in an opposition affiliated cable company was yesterday released after five hours of interrogation. U.S. citizen ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A democracy campaign in Georgia is gathering signatures in support of their law proposal about diversity in ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A new report shows that the city of Tbilisi has increased its spending on culture and public ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian law enforcement will have access to a new DNA database developed by the U.S. Federal Bureau ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – One of the owners of a cable company that is affiliated with the Georgian opposition was arrested ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian opposition billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili refuses to pay a USD 90 million fine he was issued ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – An independent commentator in Georgia suspects there was installed surveillance equipment in his flat. Gia Khukhashvili yesterday told ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia is protesting against a Russian plan to expel 9 000 Georgians who are illegally in Russia. Georgia ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Walking the streets of Tbilisi, at several spots you will see groups of children dressed in worn-out, ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A democracy campaign in Georgia says recent developments may put in doubt the legitimacy of the whole ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia may restrict Russian observers from attending the parliamentary elections in October. If a new law proposal is ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - OSCE is to keep an eye on a massive Russian military exercise in the Caucasus planned for ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Journalists in Georgia have been intimidated without the legal system properly reacting, according to a new report ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia’s ombudsman is reporting another case of mistreatment of a prisoners and asks the prosecutor to investigate ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The owner of TV and radio distributor Stereo+ says it has lost all its clients after signing ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A new report by the National Statistics Department says that direct foreign investments in the first quarter ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A swing was put up in a mountain village in Georgia, but no children are there to ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The party financing audit agency in Georgia is continuing not only going after the opposition, but might ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The main opposition leader in Georgia has been issued a fine of 126 million lari and an ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, is visiting Georgia. Apparthurai came ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A group of experts from the OSCE has arrived in Georgia to study the situation before the ...

KUTAISI, DFWatch – The main opposition bloc in Georgia Sunday mobilized supporters again, this time in the second largest city ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia demands that international observers and Georgian specialists are allowed to observe monuments in the breakaway region ...

Britain's largest bank HSBC opened business in Georgia in 2008. But in 2011, it decided to end its involvement here. ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The main opposition movement in Georgia plans to hold another large rally on Sunday, this time in ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The foreign ministers of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey met Friday in Trabzon and signed a declaration about ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A TV journalist in Georgia was shot at while driving in her car last night. Ia Tinikashvili, reporter ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – An athlete in Georgia claims that a government minister said he wanted to electrocute him as punishment ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Lawyers working for a Georgian opposition leader accuse a judge at Tbilisi City Court for being subjective. Lawyers ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A democracy campaign in Georgia expresses concern about the order to switch off Channel 9, a TV ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 7 passed a resolution in support of Georgia. The resolution ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A court in Tbilisi is to decide whether President Saakashvili's strongest challenger is a criminal. It's the Chamber ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia is to change its Election Code so it complies with the recently amended constitution. This means that ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A regulatory body in Georgia has decided that a TV station belonging to associates of the opposition ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A new strongly pro-government organization says the main opposition bloc in Georgia may be disqualified in the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A construction worker was killed as one wing of the new parliament building in Kutaisi collapsed Thursday ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A new report shows that Georgia is largely as democratic as it has been since and even ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A proposal by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meant to promote peace and understanding in the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The days are over when passengers on Tbilisi minibuses could catch the latest political gossip on their ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Another accident along the highway most visitors to Georgia arrive on left three Georgians slightly injured. The accident ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Police have arrested a 19 year old man for a hacker attack against two Georgian websites. The suspect ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Leaders may come to power and leave power, but institutions should be strengthened, Secretary of State Hillary ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after meeting with government and opposition that everything now depends ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The EU Monday launched talks with Georgia about visa-free travel. According to Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – During a visit to Georgia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised that it will become easier for ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - President Saakashvili's promise to fix the teeth of socially vulnerable people remains just a promise. The president's office ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Hillary Clinton Tuesday morning kicked off her visit to Georgia by speaking at a conference of the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is visiting Georgia, Speaker of Parliament Davit Bakradze would like ...

by Arnold Stepanian, chairman of the movement Multinational Georgia.   Israel, the Israel Lobby and Georgian Authorities Georgian authorities' interest in Israeli capital ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Another case of a possibly politically motivated dismissal has come to light. This time it's an employee ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Monday the offices of a construction company in Georgia was invaded by a group of people demanding ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A democracy campaign in Georgia is keeping up the pressure on the government to change the law ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to arrive in Georga from Armenia Monday evening as ...

-The absence of a free media makes any kind of meaningful democracy impossible. Saakashvili's givernment is using legalistic and legislative ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Recent sports events in Georgia are mainly connected to politics. After the Olympic judo champion Zurab Zviadauri ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The number of visitors to Georgia is increasing. The latest figures from the Interior Ministry show that the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia’s Interior Ministry is looking into a foreign trace in the search for those responsible for placing ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Dirk Niebel, Germany's Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, will visit Batumi on June 2. The German ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Former employees at Georgia's education ministry are reporting about harassment and threats after they resigned in protest ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A government commission set up to monitor usage of administrative resources during the elections is calling for ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Ahead of a visit to Georgia by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, democracy campaigners are appealing ...

What does the U.S. expect from Georgia and what does Georgia expect from the U.S.? The U.S. has repeatedly declared Georgia ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – U.S. Senator Richard Durbin says after familiarizing with the situation in Georgia that it was an unfortunate ...

Secretary of State Clinton's visit to Georgia and the South Caucasus June 3-6 underscores both the importance of the region ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – An investigation has been launched in Italy regarding 33 rigged football games, and Georgia's most famous football ...