Nine detained in Tbilisi as conservatives and LGBT rights campaigners clash
Levan Vasadze speaking at the counter rally. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--At least nine people were detained by police in Tbilisi at as defenders of LGBT rights clashed with conservatives on Friday. The police had to set up barriers between the two groups of protesters in order to avoid a physical confrontation. The LGBT activists gathered at the government building Friday evening to protest its [...]
France concerned over rise in asylum applications by Georgian citizens
(Camille Millerand/OFPRA.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Authorities in France are concerned over a sharp increase in asylum requests by Georgian and Albanian citizens, according to the influential French daily newspaper Le Figaro. The paper based its [...]
News
Support rally in Tbilisi for jailed Russian journalist Ivan Golunov
Journalist Egor Kuroptev speaking at the rally. (Sova.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Journalists and civic activists gathered in front of Russia’s diplomatic representation in Tbilisi on Saturday to protest the prosecution of Russian investigative journalist Ivan [...]
South Ossetia’s ruling party sheds 10% in elections for separatist parliament
The opposition People's Party more than doubled its support to 22% since 2014, when it got 9.5%. (cominf.org) TBILISI, DFWatch--The ruling party in breakaway South Ossetia looked set to win the elections for [...]
Sokhumi claims opposition leader’s illness due to food intoxication, not deliberate poisoning
Aslan Bzhania fell ill in April. TBILISI, DFWatch--Abkhazia’s breakaway authorities claim opposition leader Aslan Bzhania's sudden illness is due to ordinary food intoxication, not deliberate poisoning. Sokhumi thus rejects conclusions by a laboratory [...]
Tbilisi Pride to go ahead despite police statement they can’t guarantee event’s safety
From an LGBTQ rally in Tbilisi in 2017. (Rustavi 2.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Gay rights activists in Georgia are defying threats from conservative groups and lack of police protection as organizers opt for a street [...]
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs unable to provide security for Tbilisi Pride, recommends indoors event
TBILISI, DFWatch--Civil society organizations in Georgia are concerned over the police stance toward the Tbilisi Pride event in two weeks’ time and call upon law enforcers to “take adequate measures to secure security of participants [...]
Breakaway South Ossetia shuts down more Georgian schools
A public school in the town of Akhalgori. (DFWatch.) AKHALGORI, DFWatch--Tskhinvali plans to close some of its public schools from due to lack of pupils. The list includes two Georgian schools. One the [...]
Zelensky restores Saakashvili’s Ukrainian citizenship
Mikheil Saakashvili. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree to restore the citizenship of Georgian politician Mikheil Saakashvili on Tuesday. Invigorated by the news of his restored Ukrainian citizenship, Saakashvili said [...]
Georgian neo-Nazi sentenced to three and a half years in jail for storing weapons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0Oo7IrI3SI TBILISI, DFWatch--A notorious Georgian neo-Nazi was found guilty and sentenced to three and a half years in jail by a Tbilisi court on Friday. Giorgi Chelidze, the head of self-described "fascist" group "Georgian (National) [...]
Abkhazia opposition calls off protest after reaching compromise with de facto authorities
(Sputnik-Abkhazia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The opposition in breakaway Abkhazia ended their rally in front of parliament building in Sokhumi on Tuesday, after reaching a compromise with de facto authorities. The sides have agreed to postpone [...]
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
Independent lawyers in Georgia urge parliament to condemn “clan-based” governance in judiciary
High Council of Justice. (hcoj.gov.ge) A group of independent lawyers and legal experts has submitted a draft resolution in the parliament of Georgia in which they ask for [...]
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 […]