Khajimba resigns, refuses to meet key Kremlin fixer
Raul Khajimba and Vladislav Surkov (right) at "presidential" office in Sokhumi. August 5, 2019. Embattled de facto president of breakaway Abkhazia Raul Khajimba had to file his resignation amid growing protests of opposition on Sunday evening. Immediately before the resignation, a group of about a hundred of opposition supporters came to his state datcha near Sokhumi to stage a rally demanding him stepping [...]
Mass unrest in Sokhumi: Khajimba flees his office, threatens to impose state of emergency
Opposition activists at the Khajimba's office. TBILISI, DFWatch--Raul Khajimba, de facto president of the Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia, threatens to impose a state of emergency after opposition activists stormed his office on Wednesday. [...]
News
Georgian doctor freed from South Ossetian captivity
TBILISI, DFWatch--A prominent Georgian medical doctor was released on December 28 after spending 50 days in South Ossetian captivity for “illegal border crossing”. After his release on Saturday, Vazha Gaprindashvili emphasized that he has never admitted [...]
South Ossetia refuses to reopen Akhalgori checkpoint
Anatoly Bibilov at the meeting with Akhalgori residents. (Photo by the de facto president's administration.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tskhinvali refuses to reopen the passage to Akhalgori, a predominantly ethnic Georgian district of South Ossetia, unless [...]
Georgia’s opposition TV channels’ accounts seized amid growing concerns of government pressure
The logos of TV Pirveli, Rustavi 2 and Kavkasia. Georgia’s opposition TV channels have slammed the financial sanctions by the government as politically motivated and vow to keep on “critical broadcasting” amid what [...]
Tskhinvali regime sentences “defiant” Georgian medic to 21 months in jail
Dr. Vazha Gaprindashvili Tskhinvali regime on Friday sentenced a prominent Georgian medical doctor to twenty months in jail for “illegal crossing” of “state border” of the breakaway republic. Vazha Gaprindashvili who is a [...]
Georgian police under attack for brutality as 15 y/o commits suicide after interrogation
Rally of solidarity to Luka in Kutaisi. Protesters hold banned with slogan "F**k this Life". (Ipress.ge) The tragic death of 15-year old boy has sparked a mass outcry throughout Georgia. Dozens of protesters, [...]
Georgian parliament staffs Supreme Court amid opposition boycott, “chemical attack” and roaring protests
(IPN.) Parliament of Georgia approved 14 candidates as Supreme Court judges amid a cascade of confrontations on Thursday, which included even physical conflict between two MPs. The list of judges includes several controversial [...]
“The ice has started to melt” – Georgian government, opposition agree to discuss electoral reform
(AjaraTV.) The second round of negotiations between the Georgian government and opposition was concluded Sunday late evening with a slight progress amid growing pressure from western politicians and diplomats. The ruling party Georgian [...]
Georgian government accused of utilizing street violence to check opposition protests
Confrontation between opposition and pro-government activists in Mtkheta. (1tv.ge) The Georgia Dream has employed a new tactic to check anti-government protests throughout Georgia, which includes unleashing violent gangs of their supporters to confront [...]
Political crisis in Georgia reaches point of no return, opposition starts “permanent” rallies
Rally at the parliament. (RFE/RL) TBILISI, DFWatch--The confrontation between the Georgian Dream (GD) government and the opposition appears to have reached a point of no return, as the former on Monday flatly ruled [...]
Such campaigns against American NGOs are being run out of the Kremlin: IRI president
Daniel Twining (Twitter). “I am a little surprised to be talking about this in the context of Georgia, because such a campaign against American NGOs is being run out of the Kremlin […] [...]
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 […]