Monthly Archives: April 2017

Russian biker gang Night Wolves plans Georgia trip

By | April 29th, 2017|Categories: News|Tags: , |

TBILISI, DFWatch–The Russian biker gang Night Wolves plans to visit Georgia to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War II. The gang is known for its support of the Kremlin and leader Alexander Zaldostanov (“the Surgeon”) has appeared at many […]

Georgian priest on trial for planning to murder patriarch’s adviser

By | April 28th, 2017|Categories: Crime|Tags: , |

TBILISI, DFWatch–A priest is being put on trial in Georgia for planning to use poison to murder a close adviser to Patriarch Ilia II, the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church. As the case files were handed over to the court on Thursday, the Prosecutor General’s Office wrote in a statement that […]

Woman found strangled, ex-husband arrested as suspect

By | April 26th, 2017|Categories: Crime|Tags: , , , , |

TBILISI, DFWatch–A mother of four was found strangled in Tbilisi on Tuesday. Police suspect her ex-husband who was arrested soon after. Miranda Vacheishvili (40) was apparently strangled with a lead wire. She was living in an uptown district of the capital, and had complained […]

Georgia’s auto park continued 8% growth trend in 2016

By | April 24th, 2017|Categories: Economy|Tags: , |

TBILISi, DFWatch–The number of cars in Georgia grew 8 percent in 2016, continuing a trend of steady expansion of the nation’s auto park of mostly older vehicles. The growth in 2016 was to 1,125, which is 8 percent, with German carmakers retaining their leading positions. […]

Pregnant woman among five killed in car crash near Kutaisi, Georgia

By | April 23rd, 2017|Categories: News|Tags: |

TBILISI, DFWatch–A pregnant woman was among the five who were killed in a horrendous road accident along a highway in western Georgia on Sunday. The accident happened at night, along a highway near Kutaisi in the west of the country. First two cars collided head-on, […]

Georgia inches closer to one-party rule with new draft Constitution

By | April 23rd, 2017|Categories: Politics|Tags: , |

A meeting of the Constitutional Commission. In the center Irakli Kobakhidze, parliament’s speaker, who was commission chair. (Pia.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia is moving closer to one-party rule, opposition groups warn, as a new round of constitutional amendments was approved by a commission on Saturday. Georgians are no strangers to changing their Constitution, but the latest set of amendments  […]

Dropping a cigarette butt in Tbilisi now costs you USD 33

By | April 21st, 2017|Categories: Society|Tags: , |

TBILISI, DFWatch–Littering in the Georgian capital may now cost you a fine of 80 laris (USD 33). This includes dropping cigarette butts. 14 people were fined as the new regulation began being enforced on Thursday. 13 of them were fined for dropping cigarette butts in the streets. […]

Georgian MP injured after colleague throws ashtray, hits wrong person

By | April 19th, 2017|Categories: Politics|Tags: , , , , |

(1tv.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A member of the Georgian parliament was lightly injured on Wednesday, after a verbal and physical confrontation that led to an ashtray being hurled at his face. Otar Kakhidze was accidentally hit by an ashtray during a confrontation […]

Iran’s FM Zarif visiting Georgia

By | April 17th, 2017|Categories: In brief|Tags: , |

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif began a two day visit to Georgia on Monday. Zarif will meet with his Georgian counterpart as well as the president, the prime minister and the minister of economy and sustainable development. […]

Georgian Airways plane rolls off runway at Moscow airport

By | April 17th, 2017|Categories: News|Tags: |

(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–No-one was injured when a passenger jet belonging to Georgian Airways went past the end of the runway at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on Sunday after landing. The Boeing-737 had just arrived from Tbilisi with 106 passengers and six crew members on board. […]

Russia’s FM Lavrov to visit Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia

By | April 14th, 2017|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov. (Kremlin.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit the Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia next week to open a new Russian embassy and meet with the local leadership. Lavrov’s working visit will start April 18 with the official opening of a new Russian embassy […]

Georgian priest suspected of murder suing government for unfair trial

By | April 13th, 2017|Categories: News|Tags: |

(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A priest awaiting trial for murder is suing Georgia at the European Court of Human Rights, claiming the country is depriving him of a fair trial. Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze is  accused of planning to poison a member of the Georgian patriarch’s inner circle. […]

Georgia to get rid of its SU-25 in favor of drones and helicopters

By | April 12th, 2017|Categories: Security|Tags: , , , |

Georgian Sukhoi SU-25 “Frogfoot”. (Marcus Fülber/Wikimedia.) Unmanned attack helicopter produced by Delta. (DFWatch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia is getting rid of its Soviet era Su-25 attack aircraft, and will instead rely on military helicopters and drones, the country’s defense minister said. Su-25 is a severely outdated aircraft which requires spare parts that are produced in Russia, […]

South Ossetia declares de facto presidential election valid

By | April 10th, 2017|Categories: Security|Tags: , |

Anatoly Bibilov, a veteran of the 2008 war, has claimed victory in the election for new de facto leader of South Ossetia, a small Russian-backed breakaway region of Georgia. TBILISI, DFWatch–South Ossetia’s de facto authorities have declared the election for a new leader of the separatist region valid. According to latest news, assembly speaker Anatoly Bibilov is in the lead. He has already declared victory, but it is still not known whether he will get more than 50 percent, […]

Georgian president accuses ruling GD of stalling democratic reforms

By | April 7th, 2017|Categories: Politics|Tags: , , |

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili on Friday slammed the governing GD party for dragging its feet on the way to further democratic reforms and claimed there is a ‘crisis’ in the justice system. The president launched the broadside during […]

Georgia bans smoking indoors and at sports arenas

By | April 5th, 2017|Categories: Society|Tags: |

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia will introduce a blanket ban on smoking indoors, after parliament approved a bill proposed in February. The ban covers smoking in buildings and includes a tough package of fines to ensure that it is followed, prescribing fines of up to 5,000 lari (over USD 2,000). […]

Bomb scare causes evacuation of Metekhi Bridge

By | April 5th, 2017|Categories: News|Tags: , |

(Interpressnews.) (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A false bomb alert caused a bridge close to a restaurant district in Tbilisi to be evacuated Wednesday afternoon. Passers-by noticed a suspicious suitcase on the sidewalk of Metekhi Bridge at around 6pm. Police sealed off the tourist destination, […]

Ex-official brutally attacked in Tbilisi

By | April 4th, 2017|Categories: News|Tags: |

(Facebook/Eliso Kiladze.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Unknown assailants brutally beat a former interior ministry official in Tbilisi Monday morning. The two masked men assaulted Gela Khvedelidze, a former deputy interior minister, close to his home in the center of Tbilisi, as he was leaving his flat. […]

Rustavi 2 web domain hijacked by former owners

By | April 3rd, 2017|Categories: Media|Tags: , , , |

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s embattled opposition TV company Rustavi 2 has lost control over its web domain and has had to switch to a different address to stay online. In a statement posted online on its new address, Rustavi 2 blamed former owner David Dvali […]

Former vice speaker of parliament found guilty of embezzlement

By | April 2nd, 2017|Categories: News|Tags: , |

Rusudan Kervalishvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A former vice speaker of parliament in Georgia has been sentenced to four years in prison. Rusudan Kervalishvili (62), who served as vice speaker of parliament in 2008-2012 representing the National Movement, was detained inside the courtroom after the verdict. […]

Georgia isn’t implementing law it passed in return for visa-free travel to Europe

By | April 2nd, 2017|Categories: Europe|Tags: , , |

Thousands of Orthodox Christians attacked gay rights activists in Tbilisi on May 17, 2013. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia passed a law against discrimination three years ago, and in return the European Union gave its citizens visa-free travel to Europe. But the local human rights watchdog now says the anti-discrimination law is not being fully implemented. […]