Growing suspicion that Abkhazia’s main opposition candidate was poisoned after security guards also fall ill
Aslan Bzhania. TBILISI, DFWatch--Suspicions grew Monday that a key opposition figure in Abkhazia has been poisoned, after two of his bodyguards were hospitalized in a serious condition, at least one of them with similar symptoms. Although officially, Aslan Bzhania, the main opponent of the incumbent de facto president, and his two guards are being treated for "pneumonia", many in the breakaway republic believe [...]
President of Georgia asks CBS to correct script of ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ in which South Ossetia is called part of Russia
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--President Salome Zurabishvili calls on CBS to "make the necessary changes" to clear an "irresponsible mistake" in the synopsis of an upcoming episode of the TV [...]
News
40 injured as Pankisi residents clash with police
(Radio Way.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Up to 40 people were injured in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge Sunday as locals clashed with riot police over a hydropower plant. The confrontation started in the village Birkiani after police [...]
Georgian parliament names session hall after Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Parliament's bureau voting to name the main session hall after Zviad Gamsakhurdia. (parliament.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia has named the plenary session hall of the parliament building after the country's first president since independence. Parliament’s [...]
Three workers seriously injured at construction site of Panorama Tbilisi
(Facebook/Irakli Kupradze.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Three workers were seriously injured on Tuesday in central Tbilisi after falling from a building during construction work on a new luxury complex owned by the billionaire and former Georgian [...]
Georgian weightlifter breaks three world records
'The strongest man in the world', Lasha Talakhadze. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgian Olympic champion Lasha Talakhadze broke three world records at the European Weightlifting Championships in Georgia on Saturday. All three records broken by ‘the [...]
Breakaway region South Ossetia loses Internet connection due to cable failure
TBILISI, DFWatch--The breakaway region South Ossetia was left without Internet Tuesday due to damage to a fiber-optic cable. It is so far unknown what caused the damage to the cable connecting the separatist republic to [...]
Georgian far-right groups reach agreement about forming new political party
Sandro Bregadze (center, with megaphone) at a Georgian March rally in Tbilisi in July, 2017. (Mzia Saganelidze, RFE/RL.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Far-right activists in Georgia are uniting to form a new political party and run [...]
Breakaway Abkhazia to reintroduce the death penalty for drug crime from 2020
An unidentified prison in Abkhazia. (Ekhokavkaza.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Breakaway authorities in Abkhazia plan to lift its moratorium on capital punishment in 2020 as tougher sentences are brought in against drug crime. The de facto [...]
Georgia second in Europe by incarceration rate: CoE
Gldani prison in Tbilisi. Georgia showed the most significant drop in incarceration rate among Council of Europe member countries between 2008 and 2019. However, it is the second among countries with particularly high [...]
Saakashvili eyes comeback in Ukraine’s politics after Zelenzky’s first round win
Mikheil Saakashvili was forcefully deported from Ukraine in February, 2018. (Stringer Media.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The success of an opposition candidate in Ukraine's presidential elections has given Georgia's former leader Mikheil Saakashvili new hope of [...]
Populist rulers across the globe increasingly navigate towards Kremlin: Hans Binnendjik
Hans Binnendjik (VoA). The NATO was founded in April of 1949 by Washington treaty, and at a time aimed to prevent Soviet aggression in Europe. In 21st century, the NATO’s role and agenda [...]
Europe and Georgia
PACE to discuss dismissing its president in October
PACE President Pedro Agramunt. (Council of Europe.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will discuss a proposal to dismiss its chairperson in early October after a motion was tabled on Friday. The motion to dismiss PACE President Pedro Agramunt was backed by 158 out of the 636 member […]
Opinion
Minorities
Groups say 25-year old’s fatal stabbing in Tbilisi was motivated by xenophobia
Vitali Safarov (Facebook). TBILISI, DFWatch--A young human rights activist who was stabbed to death in Tbilisi nearly two weeks ago was murdered by members of a neo-Nazi group, Georgian civic activists say. Vitali [...]
NGO News
Georgian civic groups suspect government is behind smear campaign on Facebook
Eka Gigauri. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia's largest NGOs suspect that the government is masterminding a smear campaign against them using internet trolls. "These dull caricatures with their Facebook pages [...]
NGO coalition in Georgia proposes new procedure for selecting chief prosecutor
DFWatch Editor-in-Chief Lasha Tughushi is one of the authors of the bill. Behind him, co-author Natia Kuprashvili. TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s largest NGO coalition proposes an overhaul of the existing system for selecting a chief prosecutor in order to minimize the risk that one party takes the decision unilaterally. The proposed bill comes in the wake of a two-week-long series of rallies in Tbilisi […]
CSOs Seek Involvement in Public Defender’s Selection Process
We would like to respond to the statements related to the selection of Georgian Public Defender and call on the Parliament of Georgia to ensure civil society participation in the [...]