Democracy & Freedom Watch

TBILISI, DFWatch--A court in Tbilisi determined sixteen persons as guilty of torture of prisoners, humiliation and mistreatment, but recognized Vladmier ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s foreign trade turnover in January-April 2013 fell by 4 percent compared to the same period in 2012. The trade ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--The unit to combat financial fraud in Georgia has charged Irakli Ezugbaia, the former head of Georgian Railway, of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--Natia Mogeladze, head of the Financial Monitoring Service for political parties, resigned on Wednesday. According to the State Audit Office, ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--Parliament in Georgia has overturned President Saakashvili’s veto against legislative amendments about judicial reform. Those behind the amendments claim that ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia is hoping for an easing of visa rules for those of its citizens who plan to visit Russia. This ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--President Mikheil Saakashvili’s party members demand that the he uses his right to veto three important drafts which parliament ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--The population in the village Ditsi, which is located close to Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali region, are protesting against the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--President Mikheil Saakashvili has postponed for a month the signing of a document passed by parliament about confirming the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--A former security minister who was fired by President Mikheil Saakashvili after the Rose Revolution in 2003 is to ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--President Saakashvili offers Prime Minister Ivanishvili to sign a common statement to NATO and the EU confirming their allegiance ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--President Mikheil Saakashvili refuses to use the Special State Protection Service service after bitter negotiations with the government about ...

TBILISI, DFWatch--Nearly 200 children were poisoned at Tbilisi kindergartens in November, 2012. According to the National Center for Disease Control ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Ex Defense Minister Dimitry Shashkin lives in the United States in a luxurious $4000/month house and claims ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- The new government has started an overhaul of the election legislation. A group in parliament will prepare ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Georgian TV channel Rustavi 2 claimed there was a crisis between Georgia and Armenia after the Georgian ...

Foreign Affairs Minister Maya Panjikidze confirms in an interview with DF Watch that she has received a two page letter ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- The house of an Olympic champion who represents the Georgian Dream coalition in parliament was riddled with ...

Deputy Minister of Justice Alexandre Baramidze says that there are many regulations in the current judicial system which contradict the ...

The leader of a business chamber in Georgia says he helped the previous government try to bankrupt Cartu Bank, which ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Former Economy Minister Vera Kobalia was Friday evening questioned regarding the bankruptcy of a bank connected to ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- 80 percent of the Georgian population likes the new Prime Minister, while only 29 percent likes the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- A handful of media experts are calling for legislative reforms to address problems with media freedom in ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Two thirds still consider themselves unemployed in Georgia, a new survey shows. 67 percent say they are without ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Georgia’s Defense Minister Irakli Alasania sat down with DF Watch to talk about the bilateral security and ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- It has caused great controversy in Georgia that its representatives at a session of the United Nations ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- According to preliminary estimates by the Prison Ministry, about 6 500 prisoners will leave prison in Georgia ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- The planned mass amnesty in Georgia may apply to eight thousand prisoners and 19 000 on probation. Giga ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Georgia’s Security Council, which is a body subordinate to the president, cannot prove what it has spent ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Intelligence officers detained yesterday are accused of using computer viruses to record audio and video of opposition ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Georgia’s new government has now detailed what its priorities are by presenting a budget for next year ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The court system will be depoliticized, cumulative sentencing will be abolished and video recording at trials will ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- The prosecutor’s office is considering to investigate the mayor of Tbilisi who feels offended that he wasn’t ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Georgia’s State Minister for Reintegration Issues says that the government should support restoring overland transportation with Russia ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- The president of the Georgian Bank Association says the interest rate on loans will go down. Zurab Gvasalia ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- New candidates have been unveiled for deputy ministers in the new government. Despite an offer from Prime Minister ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Georgia’s new government plans to give thousands of prisoner amnesty, but has not yet specific what categories ...

Georgia’s Central Election commission Friday approved the protocol of the October 1, 2012, parliamentary election. The first session of the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Georgian Dream on Tuesday named the rest of its candidates for new government ministers. Bidzina Ivanishivli, Georgian Dream ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- President Mikheil Saakashvili promises Bidzina Ivanishvili to help in keeping the new government safe and to retain ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Property seized in the heat of the election campaign is to be returned, even though the new ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- Georgia's state accounts by are by September 2012 at one of the highest levels during the past ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- One of the largest petrol companies reduced the price of petrol by 8 tetris. A spokesman for ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- The winner of the aryparliament election, Georgian Dream, will from October 8 send representatives to each state ...

TBILISI, DFWatch -- A colonel in Georgia’s armed forces who recently chaired Georgian peace divisions in Afghanistan has been arrested. ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The coalition that won the parliament election is putting together a working group to handle relations with ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The U.S. National Democratic Institute will observe Georgia’s parliamentary election on October 1. According to NDI’s Georgia office, ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council calls on law enforcement bodies to use lighter forms of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Groups in Georgia demands that the former prison minister, former interior minister, current justice minister and current ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The leader of the government’s main competitor in the election in just over a week says that ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The first new story of prisoner abuse has surfaced after President Saakashvili began a major shakeup of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - After releasing the scandalous footage of prisoner abuse, Georgia's powerful interior minister, who is suspected to be ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Five members of the Georgian president's favorite dance troupe, the National Ballet, say they support his main ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Members of the ruling National Movement party who have left the party as sign of a protest ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Negotiations a TV company and the government about installing satellite receivers have failed. The director of Maestro TV ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The largest opposition bloc in Georgia refuses to sign a code of conduct signed by other political ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The government in Georgia has agreed to distribute satellite dishes it confiscated from Maestro TV. The equipment ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - In Tbilisi on Friday, representatives of 103 countries adopted an agreement on environmental protection education. The treaty outlines ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – In most cities in Georgia, almost all billboards, minibuses and buses are covered by commercials for the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The seizing of the bank accounts of an opposition figure and his partner, a former AC Milan ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition in Georgia considers to make the former AC Milan player Kakhi Kaladze speaker of parliament ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the largest opposition bloc in Georgia, promises that he will defend people's vote ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The ruling party says the current parliamentary speaker and the prime minister will represent it in election ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The audit body in Georgia, which for several months has been busy fining the largest opposition bloc, ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The head of a village near Tbilisi has been shot to death. A friend of the victim ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The international community has begun to assess the election period in Georgia. Their comments focuse on the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The government in Georgia accuses the opposition bloc Georgian Dream of attempting to discredit government bodies. Two officials ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Swiss company SGS will monitor the movement of goods on Russian-Georgian border from September 1, 2012. November ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Georgian president’s main competitor, plans to win in the western Samegrelo region by having ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Appeals Court in Tbilisi rejected an appeal by the leader of the opposition Georgian Dream coalition ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Two ministers have been changed after the new Georgian government was approved. No reason was given for ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A well-known football player who left his career to join the opposition Georgian Dream coalition was on ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A lawyer for a company affiliated with the largest opposition bloc in Georgia has been sentenced to ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Four years after the war between Russia and Georgia, which led to hundreds of deaths, occupation of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Now that the date of Georgia's parliamentary elections has been set to October 1, political parties are ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - An auction is in progress to sell property seized from 17 people who donated money to political ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A police employee threatened his cousin with a gun because he was a member of the opposition ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Activists for the governing party Saturday prevented President Saakashvili's main opponent, Bidzina Ivanishvili, from meeting with the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia will hold parliamentary elections on October 1. The announcement marks the beginning of the election campaign ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - 291 471 voters registered in Georgia are currently living abroad, while 26 000 are dead. These are the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian state takes over ownership of information about fossil and mineral resources in the country. Before, ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Human rights campaigners in Georgia are organizing a hungerstrike among prisoners in connection with the election for ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A supporter of a former government top who is now in the opposition was arrested Friday morning. For ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia's National Communications Commission (GNCC) is violating a recently amended law obliging it to inform the public ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition Georgian Dream coalition is ready to join a declaration asking for a competitive, fair and ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia increased its import of oil by 8.5 percent in the first half of 2012 compared to ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Saakashvili’s main competitor, who accuses the government of abusing the legal system to intervene in his party's ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian government does not intend to change its position in regards of to implementing the must-carry ...

Georgia's Speaker of Parliament says the prime minister should decide whether opposition billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili may be allowed to help ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Bidzina Ivanishvili Thursday announced the names of all ten majoritarian candidates for Tbilisi and several candidates in ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia’s GDP grew 1.3 percent in second quarter of 2012, compared to the first quarter and is ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition Georgian Dream party does not trust the results of a survey conducted by the National ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – A new poll shows that the opposition Georgian Dream movement has nearly doubled its support in the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The Georgian government calls for political parties to commit to not use or incite violence during this ...

TBILISI – Authorities in Georgia have issued a 2 million dollar fine to one of opposition financier Bidzina Ivanishvili's companies, ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – There is a significant drop in support among Georgians for their country being integrated in NATO. In ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Russian military presence in Georgia's breakaway regions are increasingly being called an occupation. The first to use ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – At a time when Vano Merbaishvili was not yet confirmed as Prime Minister, a bill was brought ...

President Mikheil Saakashvili Saturday appointed interior minister Vano Merabishvili as prime minister. DF Watch spoke to Petre Tsiskarishvili about the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - President Mikheil Saakashvili's appointment of a former interior minister as prime minister may have been in violation ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian parliament on Friday approved the country’s strategy on relations with North Caucasus people. At the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The goal of appointing Ivane Merabishvili, the powerful Interior Minister, to the post of Prime Minister is ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia has decided to open a national park for commercial activity. The area lies in Georgia's western part ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia's education minister on Monday fired the head the of National Examinations Center, which is know as ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – On May 26, Georgia's independence day, President Mikheil Saakashvili argued that it is time for a stronger ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The parliamentary faction Christian Democrats Movement is demanding a ban on 'immoral persons' holding public office and ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia is attractive in regards to ease of doing business and freedom of the economy, says Martin ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian opposition billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili sells his development assets in Russia for USD 982.5 million. Ivanishvili, who ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili says 2012 has many parallels to 2008, and that NATO needs to show ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian government says it will solve the problems with the David Gareja monastery complex on the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Money transfers from foreign countries to Georgia increased 6.4 percent in April, compared to the same period ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A man Thursday set himself on fire at the parliament building because the government hasn’t helped him. Parliament ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia is doing away with a law which guaranteed the public access to information about public officials. This ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – The parliament in Georgia Tuesday once more modified a set of constitutional changes which were meant to ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Teachers are suffering political discrimination in Georgia ahead of an important election. Only in Shida Kartli, a region ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Saakashvili’s main political opponent Bidzina Ivanishvili will sell all his property in Russia by the end of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia is to create a new 15-year tax privilege for people who invest at least one million ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Lawmakers in Georgia have temporarily given EU citizens political rights in the country for the next three ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A scuffle broke out Tuesday in the Georgian parliament during a debate about the Armenian genocide. Jondi Baghaturia, ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - President Mikheil Saakashvili Monday marked the start of construction work for a new hydro power station in ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The tax pressure will be relieved, sanctions liberalized and the administration will be simplified, the government has ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Negotiations will start between Georgia and the U.S. at the end of May aimed at intensifying trade ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Saturday, the opposition party everybody expects to challenge Mikheil Saakashvili in October's parliamentary election gathered for a ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A new law lets companies escape all debt if they go bankrupt, freeing the owners of all ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Germany is satisfied with how the negotiations between Georgia and the EU are going, to work out ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian Railways is set to be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), becoming the second Georgian ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The government in Georgia does not take seriously allegations about the existence of a plan to kill ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The Georgian Foreign Ministry has formally protested against how Russia is treating a royal cemetary in Moscow. Tbilisi ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - President Mikheil Saakashvili’s main competitor will be allowed to participate in the parliamentary elections in October, after ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The Christian Democrats propose a new law which will allow Saakashvili’s main opponent to participate in elections ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia has broken off relations with a distinguished German diplomat, alleging he compared the Saakashvili regime to ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - President Mikheil Sakashvili says Georgia as never before needs many foreign observers. “We need many international observers not ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - An opposition politician in Georgia Tuesday described in more detail what he knows about an alleged paramilitary ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - There are intense preparations going on between Georgia and Israel to cancel visa restrictions between the two ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - In August 2007, the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi listed twelve young women who each held special talents ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - German Foreign Affairs Minister Guido Westerwelle will visit Georgia on March 15 as part of a tour ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Pro-democracy campaigners in Georgia welcome a step by the government to change a controversial law which they ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The former Soviet republic of Georgia has simplified the definition of what an act of terrorism is. Previously, ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, said Tuesday night that Georgia will lift visa requirements for all Russians. Saakashvili was ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem, which in its time was built with the support of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian authorities have arrested the head of security at opposition financier Bidzina Ivanishvili's ski resort. It was officers ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili Tuesday took his movement one step further to becoming a full-fledged party, but ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia and Iran's new visa free agreement has led to a tripling of travel. We take a ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Work to construct one of the biggest hydro electric power stations in Georgia has been halted, after ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A South Ossetian ex-politician has been fired from his position as coach for Russia’s national wrestling team. Dzambulat ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Several leading Georgian organizations are now demanding clearer limits for the powers of the country's party finance ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The government of Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili has begun an unprecedented move to cut off the foreign ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Journalists in Georgia will no longer be allowed to bring cameras into the session hall of the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - It is one of Georgia's most touted reforms abroad, but now lawyers who have experienced it in ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili says that his country's military cooperation with the United States is moving into ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - People in Georgia are looking forward to today’s meeting between the U.S. and Georgian presidents in Washington, ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The government in Georgia increases the state funding of political TV ads to create a more level ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia has reclaimed three brand names of wine that had been patented in Germany by a Russian ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The Georgian speaker of parliament says lawmakers never rubber-stamp laws after receiving advice from the Council of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - As Georgia is heading for potentially the first real competitive election, confusion arose Friday over different versions ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian authorities accuse the opposition movement of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili of making a fraudulent business deal. The claim ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia is ready to make an exception from the travel restrictions and let a UNESCO mission enter ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Independent Georgian media units Friday signed a memorandum of mutual defense, vowing that any harassment on any ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - President Mikheil Saakashvili says it's the Georgian nation the government of Russia has problems with, not the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A Georgian parliamentarian from the governing party welcomes the idea of Georgia as location for parts of ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The government in Georgia can gain one year by delaying a court case which will decide whether ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A Georgian billionaire who wants to run in the election in fall may have to wait for ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A company owned by Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili claims the customs service is deliberately damaging goods as ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Lawmakers in the Georgian capital seem to have changed a law after it was signed by the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Several authoritative non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Georgia consider the retrospective powers of a new law amendment unconstitutional ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - As a bundle of election related bills are up for final review in parliament, it became clear ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The river which runs through Tbilisi might have its waters levels lowered, because a Turkish power company ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - A Georgian opposition parliamentarian who asked authorities to map out how opposition parties receive their funding, has ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Givi Targamadze, chairman of Parliament's Defense and Security Committee, states that the government should use the national ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - From next year, Georgian theatres will refuse to accept help from billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, culture minister Nika ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia will have 6.2% growth in the economy in 2011. But the prices will have increased 10.5%. In ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia will not increase the number of members of parliament. Raising the number of MPs was one ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Two of Mikheil Saakashvili's ministers say he won’t cling on to power as prime minister after he ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Eric Rubin, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs says that the United ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili Friday asked the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for permission to send one ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - The Georgian Minister of Regional Development is sure that the new Georgian parliament building (pictured) will be ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - An oppposition parliamentarian says the physical attack against his son was politically motivated. Giorgi Tsagareishvili, representive of the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Another surprise bill about election reform made its way to parliament Monday, making it clear that the ...

TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili says the time has come for ‘real Euro-Atlantic integration and not an ...