Merab Turana (IPN). The three lawsuits filed in the Constitutional Court of Georgia on the Law on "Transparency of Foreign Influence" will be combined into one proceeding, CCG Chairman Merab Turava said to the journalist on Monday, adding "I don't think that I and my judges have any less European aspirations than you." The President of [...]
Tbilisi, DFWatch-Over a hundred non-governmental and media organizations declare their open disobedience to the foreign influence draft law initiated by the Georgian authorities and suspend all cooperation with the government "until the Russian Law is dropped." In addition, as stated in the joint statement, they invite people to protest the bill on Sunday, at 19:00, on [...]
Shalva Papuashvili Georgian government, after a one-year forced pause and in the face of criticism both inside and outside the country, re-initiated the bill on "Agents of Foreign Influence". The new initiative, titled as the draft law on "Transparency of Foreign Influence", which Georgian Dream seems to be determined to finally adopt, envisages the mandatory registration [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--A woman from Moscow Oblast, who caused great anger among Vladimir Putin supporters by kicking out a Russian soldier fighting against Ukraine from her coffee shop, has moved to Tbilisi with only ‘two bags’, leaving behind a chain of coffee shops. “I love my home, but I think that it’s better for me to be [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgian Dream is in the process of preparing a legislative initiative to "protect society from pseudo-liberal ideology" and its inevitable harmful consequences." The country may face such a situation when "we will be asked to legalize the so-called civil partnership", says Mamuka Mdinaradze, majority leader at the parliament. Opposition political parties dub this as empty [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--The court of the "Donetsk People's Republic" has sentenced a Georgian fighter Mamuka Gatserelia to life imprisonment for killing three Russian infantrymen, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation states. The 22-year-old volunteer, whose parents reportedly originate from occupied Abkhazia, was found guilty under two articles of the Russian Criminal Code - Article 317 [...]
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili (left) and his assassin Vadim Krasikov. TBILISI, DFWatch--Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested his country might exchange American journalist Evan Gershkovich for a Russian assassin jailed in Germany. Speaking to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a two hour long interview, the Russian leader alluded to holding negotiations about the exchange of Wall [...]
Irakli Garibashvili (right) and Irakli Kobakhidze (gd.ge). TBILISI, DFWatch–After Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili returned to public politics in late December, everyone in Georgia expected major upheavals in the government, although only a small number of commentators predicted dismissal of the prime minister. However, this became clear on Sunday, when the pro-government TV company Imedi reported [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch–More than 700 people were detained on charges of crossing the de facto border between Abkhazia and Georgia in 2023, states security service of the breakaway Abkhazia. Most of them were punished administratively, and criminal prosecution was started against 15. According to the Sokhumi regime government, only 30 of these "crimes" are related to smuggling. [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch–Dutch low-cost airline, Transavia, is starting to operate in the Georgian market. Tickets can currently be purchased on the company's website for flights from late April. During the summer navigation season of 2024, the airline will fly in the Amsterdam-Tbilisi-Amsterdam direction. However, the company has a connection service, through which it is possible to fly [...]
A poll commissioned by the US National Democratic Institute has once again shown the dire, and one might say catastrophic, situation faced by most political parties in Georgia a year before benchmark general elections. According to the release published by NDI on Monday, if parliamentary elections were to be held now, presumably only the ruling party, [...]
Occupied South Ossetia’s de facto authorities continue to change toponyms in order to purposefully eradicate Georgian placenames. De facto parliament of South Ossetia adopted the law on (re-)naming geographical places on Tuesday at the session. The head of the Committee on National Politics, Religion and Media Alan Tadtaev said at the session the new law provides [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze (Facebook). TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition party demands the establishment of a visa regime, a ban on the entry of cars with Russian license plates and other strict measures in order to prevent the "invasion of Russians in Georgia". For this, the Lelo, political party founded by entrepreneur Mamuka Khazaradze, submitted Monday “Protect Georgia [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch –1,100-1,200 volunteers from South Ossetia are fighting on the Russian side in Ukraine, said Anatoly Bibilov, Deputy Commander of the Volunteer Assault Corps, in an interview with Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti. Bibilov, who served as president of South Ossetia's puppet regime from 2017 to 2012, claims that VAC, which encompasses all volunteers [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch – De facto authorities of breakaway Abkhazia are ready to revive the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) discussions, Sokhumi regime deputy foreign minister Irakli Tuzhba said during the video conference with Russian and South Ossetian colleagues Tuesday. “The Abkhaz side has prepared another package of proposals to unfreeze the MPRI format. I hope that [...]
Davit Tsetskhladze (Facebook). TBILISI, DFWatch – At the meeting of the "Russia-Georgia Business Council" in Vladikavkaz, the capital of Russia’s republic of North Ossetia, the issue of opening a road connecting Russia and Georgia through occupied South Ossetia was discussed on Tuesday, according to the information spread by the news website Sova News based on the telegram [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The number of remittances from Russia to Georgia in August decreased by 45.5 percent compared to last year and amounted to $60 million, although this country is still the leader and accounts for about a fifth of the total volume, according to the release published by the National Bank of Georgia on Friday. In [...]
Former Public Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria, who has been the object of permanent criticism and constant verbal attacks by the ruling party for the past years, is founding a new public movement, the first event of which will be held on Thursday. European Orbit of Georgia is a platform that creates space for those who [...]
Tbilisi-DFWatch - The news that Shota Gorgadze, a member of Vladimir Putin’s presidential Human Rights Council, visited Batumi caused mass public outrage in Georgia. Gorgadze, who at the same time is the lawyer of the top Russian propagandist, Vladimir Solovyov, published a video on Instagram where he eats Adjarian khachapuri in one of the Batumi restaurants. [...]
Tbilisi-DFWatch-The government of Georgia, which has been increasingly becoming the target of accusations of circumventing the sanctions imposed on Russia, had to make another denial on Monday. This time it has to repudiate information spread by Armenian media about the restoration of regular sea traffic with the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The Maritime Transport [...]
The opposition parties of Georgia issue a joint statement speaking out about the threat of government shifting foreign political priorities and accuse the ruling power, Georgian Dream, of being a collaborator with the Putin regime for agreeing to the restoration of direct air traffic with Russia. "The Georgian Dream" has once again put Georgia's European and [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch-The growing dissatisfaction of the population towards the ruling party is not reflected in the increase in the popularity of opposition and rather indicates the electorate is dissatisfied with political class in general. This is indicated in a poll published on Wednesday by NDI and CRRC. The majority of the population of Georgia says that [...]
Zurab Odishvili (Facebook). TBILISI, DFWatch – One more Georgian fighter, Zurab Odishvili, died in Ukraine. He is the 43rd Georgian who fell victim to Russia's large-scale aggression. The place and circumstances of Odishvili's death are unknown. According to the TV company Mtavari Arkhi, he may have died as a result of "chemical bombing". Lado Gamsakhurdia, Chairman of [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition appeals President Salome Zurabishvili to convene parliament’s extraordinary session for creating special commission to study corruption in the judiciary. Opposition MPs say they have the necessary votes to set up commission. A total of 50 PMs’ votes are needed to create a temporary investigative commission, while the opposition has 56 mandates in [...]
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, whom the opposition and Western politicians often accuse of populist rhetoric, said during his speech in the parliament Friday that government saved the country from "Ukrainization“, and reiterated the narrative of conspiracy to drag Georgia into a war against Russia. “The real danger facing our country today is the […] conspiracy that [...]
The pro-EU protests in Tbilisi, which forced the government to kill the highly controversial bill on “foreign agents”, have triggered a natural hysteria in occupied Abkhazia, where the narrative has stubbornly been spread as if the West is forcing Tbilisi to open a “second front”. As a climax of this hysteria, the military forces of the [...]
The moment of expulsion of opposition MPs from Legal Affairs Committee hearing. The opposition is creating a coordination council to resist the adoption of controversial bill on “foreign (influence) agents” by the ruling Georgian Dream, which is widely perceived as a kind of foreign policy U-turn for Georgia - distancing the country from its Western allies [...]
(IPN) Verbal and physical confrontation followed the start of consideration of the anti-Western bill initiated by a political group close to the ruling Georgian Dream in the parliament on Thursday. The opposition urged supporters to gather at the parliament immediately in order to prevent such a step, which will be a big U-turn on the path [...]
The Conservative Movement, a far-right pro-Russian political party notorious for violence against LGBTQ activists and journalists, was second only to the ruling Georgian Dream in the last quarter of 2022 in terms of donations, according to a report released by Transparency International Georgia on Tuesday. In the period from October 1 to December 31, the Conservative [...]
Mikheil Saakashvili's health condition has worsened and if the current trend continues, irreversible processes will start in 1-2 months, states the Council of Doctors set by the Public Defender. “The patient has entered the phase of active catabolism,” reads the document released by the Office of Public Defender of Georgia Monday based on the visit and [...]
President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate Robin Dunnigan as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Georgia. Robin Dunnigan is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, and currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central and Eastern Europe in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. [...]
If Saakashvili's weight drops below 52 kg, his body will not be able to withstand and he will die, said neurologist who is a member of a medical concilium at the office of Public Defender on Wednesday at the ex-president's trial. Currently, according to Saakashvili's lawyer and family, he has started the process of rapid cachexia, [...]
Mikheil Saakashvili's condition has worsened so much that he is being taken to intensive care unit, his lawyer said on Tuesday, although later the director of the hospital, where the third president of Georgia is being treated, said that there are no clinical prerequisites for transferring him to ICU. After the meeting with ex-president, lawyer Shalva [...]
Alt-Info activists gathered in Kvareli in front of car with Levan Berdzenishvili in the front seat. (Nika Gurini/Facebook.) Georgian far-right pro-Russian political party Alt-Info, which is the organizer of July 5 pogroms in 2021, against LGBTQI activists and journalists assumes responsibility for disrupting public lecture of the liberal politician and popular literary critic. The incident took [...]
Tbilisi court on Tuesday found four men guilty of publicly assaulting and humiliating a young woman, the wife of their relative, which led to the woman's suicide. For the crime that happened eight years ago, each of the defendants was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison. The case concerns the events of September [...]
Abkhaz volunteers at Pyatnashka battalion (t.me/OSINTGeorgia) Four Abkhaz volunteers fighting on the Russian side have been killed in Donbas. The identities of at least three of them are known, although the Abkhazian Telegram channels report on the death of four. There are also unknown number of wounded. Volunteers from Russian-occupied Abkhazia died near the town of [...]
The ambassadors of the EU member states warned the Georgian government at a meeting behind closed doors that the situation surrounding the former president Mikheil Saakashvili could put an end to Georgia's European aspirations, Tbilisi-based Russian-language news website Sova reports relying on its own sources. At Wednesday’s meeting with Justice Minister Rati Bregadze, the heads of [...]
The conflict between the president and the ruling political team of Georgia is getting worse. On Monday, Salome Zourabichvili demonstratively refused to participate in the Ambassadors' Conference 2022 due to "gross violations of generally recognized and established rules of state and diplomatic protocol". “According to the Constitution of Georgia, the President of Georgia is the head [...]
Extremely debilitated Mikheil Saakashvili appeared before court on December 22 via video link to plead for his release or transfer abroad on health grounds. The imprisoned former President of Georgia states that the sharp deterioration of his health condition is related to poisoning, which was ordered by Vladimir Putin of Russia. “Putin really ordered me to [...]
Political forces in Georgia are bracing for a court hearing scheduled for Friday, which should review the issue of releasing Mikheil Saakashvili or postponing his sentence. The trial was scheduled at the request of his lawyers, who claim that the health condition of the ex-president is critical and if not transferred abroad for treatment, his life [...]
Body of Artur Kirkinadze, an Abkhazian volunteer who died in Donbas, brought to Sukhumi. September 12. (Photo by Sokhumi regime emergency service). The body of 24-year-old Beslan Tapagua was brought Wednesday from Krasnodar to Sokhumi by the emergency service of the separatist regime. There are no details on how Tapagua died. It is only known that [...]
Georgian Recon Team captured Russian BTR-82 somewhere in Ukraine (photo @Visioner). On Saturday, reports were spread about the death of five Georgian fighters at Bakhmut, Donbass. Later, this information was confirmed by the Embassy of Georgia in Kyiv, as well as Georgian volunteers who protect Ukraine from Russian aggression. There are no confirmed details about the [...]
Border crossing "Psou". The Sukhumi regime complains to the Russian ambassador that citizens of the "Republic", including members of the de facto parliament, face problems from Russian officials when crossing the border. Abkhazia's de facto foreign minister Inal Ardzinba appealed to Mikhail Shurgalin, Russian ambassador to the self-proclaimed republic and complained that four MPs who were [...]
(Kavkaz-uzel.eu) A peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed in Tbilisi by the end of November or the beginning of December, and preparatory work in this regard is already actively underway in Georgia, Armenian news website Graparak reports based on its own sources. The document, which is planned to be signed in Georgia, implies [...]
Giorgi Vashadze (from left), Elene Khoshtaria and Zurab Japaridze (Facebook). Three opposition political parties in Georgia - Strategy Agmashenebeli, Girchi - More Freedom and Droa – establish “a pro-European coalition”, the goal of which is to oust Georgian Dream and solicit getting the EU candidate status by the country. "There is no other way, and our [...]
(cominf.org) Three people injured in the fire in Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia’s breakaway republic of South Ossetia, which killed two children, will be taken to one of the clinics in Tbilisi for treatment, Ekho Kavkaza reports based on the information provided by International Committee of the Red Cross. The representatives of the puppet regime themselves [...]
Lasha Purtskhvanidze, director of Greenservice+, escorted by the police after arrest (Mtavari Arkhi photo). As part of the investigation into the causes of the Tbilisi Vake Park tragedy, the police have arrested nine people, including the Deputy Head of the City Hall Environmental Protection Service and director of contractor company, the Ministry of Internal Affairs' representative [...]
(1tv.ge) Members of Georgian volunteer units Saturday brought Tbilisi the body of 44-year-old Edisher Kvaratskhelia, who died in the fight against Russian aggressors in Ukraine. Kvaratskhelia is the 20th Georgian volunteer who died in the war. On October 10, he was killed by a Russian rocket attack near the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast of [...]
The flow of Russian citizens at Zemo Larsi customs checkpoint has increased by 40-45 percent; 5-6 thousand have been arriving daily in recent days, Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, said Thursday. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Security Service and other law enforcement agencies do everything to filter out those [...]
Telegram channel SHOT On the border with Georgia, which has becomes a point of exodus for those Russian men who want to avoid conscription, Russia opens a military commissariat presence. According to the eyewitnesses from the place, at this stage the conscripts are not detained, nor are they prevented from crossing border. The officers hand over [...]
The war mobilization announced by Vladimir Putin has worsened the situation on the Russian-Georgian border to such an extent that the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), which is responsible for border control, sent Monday an armored personnel carrier there to prevent a forceful breach of the border at Larsi by the crowd - [...]
The state estate in Pitsunda, Abkhazia, which was a popular retreat for Soviet leaders during communist rule, has been a hotbed of tension between Moscow and its proxy Sukhumi government for months. The matter reached a boiling point in late August when Russian ambassador threatened to halt all investment projects in the breakaway republic. However, this [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch–Abkhaz leader is ready to drag the breakaway republic closer to Moscow by joining the Union State of Russia and Belarus. “We would like to join this union, we would gladly support this idea and be full members of this state,” said Thursday Aslan Bzhania, Abkhazia’s de facto president, in an interview with one of [...]
(gnta.ge) Revenues from international visitors are at a record high this year in Georgia. According to the information published by the National Bank of Georgia, the country received $476 million in income from international visitors in July, which is almost $270 million more than the same figure of July last year. In total, the country received [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch–The Ukrainian army has severely defeated the Russian unit stationed in the breakaway Abkhazia on the Kryvyi Rih front, which suffered such significant losses that the leadership was forced to withdraw it from the front for regrouping, Sova.news, Tbilisi-based Russian-language news portal, reports relying on Ukrainian military expert. “Proud abkhazians were running! Well, how did [...]
The Swiss bank Credit Suisse continues to restrict Bidzina Ivanishvili's access to his banking resources “as a matter of principle”, and "for quite a long time" they do not even respond to the letters and questions of the client's representatives, says the legal company MKD Law, which protects the interests of the Georgian Dream founder, in [...]
(Razom.ge) Georgian civic groups and activists have launched a fundraising campaign to provide temporary housing for Ukrainian refugees who were left out in the street after the end of state program. The company is implemented on behalf of the Open Society Georgia Foundation, civil groups RAZOM.GE and DOPOMOGA, as well as the foundation of jazz singer [...]
Vadim Krasikov. TBILISI, DFWatch--In prisoner exchange talks with the United States, Moscow has offered to include a hitman affiliated with Russian intelligence, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for the elimination of Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a citizen of Georgia. Russian officials have suggested that the assassin, Vadim Krasikov, be placed on a [...]
Russia plans to restore air traffic with breakaway Abkhazia, and pledges to assist Sokhumi regime to rehabilitate Babushara airport, which, according to de facto president Aslan Bzhania, will be completed in 2024. On Thursday in Sukhumi, Russian Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov met with the regime's Vice PM Christina Ozgan, where they discussed the details of the [...]
Acting director general of Georgia’s biggest opposition TV channel Mtavari Arkhi states that there is total illegal surveillance of journalists in the country “just like in Russia”. As proof of this, he cites an audio recording that was broadcast on Wednesday on a pro-government TV channel. Giorgi Gabunia, Mtavari Arkhi news anchor who replaced Nika Gvaramia [...]
Democracy is about transparency, and it is essential every now and then to call a spade a spade and say in public what is being discussed in private. That is especially the case when national interests are at stake. When three Georgian Dream MPs (Honourable Khundadze, Subari, Kavelashvili), turned recently and instantly into independent legislators, bonded [...]
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili publishes an extensive statement, where he responds to the "campaign of internal and external political opponents". In a letter full of praise for billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, the PM claims that the government hasn’t taken any operational or key decisions at his behest. "If anyone thinks that we did not impose sanctions (on [...]
A natural gas field with a volume of 16 billion cubic meters has been discovered near Tbilisi, said Giorgi Tatishvili, the head of the State Oil and Gas Agency, speaking to BMG. "To imagine, this is equal to the consumption of Georgia for 8 years," Tatishvili said. This gas reserve was discovered by the French oilfield [...]
The organizers of a pro-EU rally in central Tbilisi, where thousands of people gathered to say that Brussels' refusal to grant Georgia candidate status was the result of the Georgian Dream government's misguided policies, demand the resignation of government and PM Irakli Gharibashvili. The PM will resign within a week and a government of national consent [...]
Giorgi Margvelashvili. Georgia's two former presidents and four ex-speakers of parliament appeal the EU not to oust Georgia from the "trio" and to grant it candidate status, as it did with Ukraine and Moldova. “The content of the letter is as follows - we agree with the demands of European Commission, the expediency of their fulfillment, [...]
The statement of the chairman of the Georgian Dream, who categorically ruled out the transfer of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili abroad for medical treatment, caused great outrage in the opposition. "Irakli Kobakhidze actually sentenced to death Mikheil Saakashvili," said Nika Gvaramia, director general of the main opposition TV channel, Mtavari Arkhi, who himself was sentenced to a [...]
Georgian fighter, 27-year-old Tato Bigvava, commander of the second company of the Azov Regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine has died in the bastion of the defenders of Mariupol, on the territory of the Azovstal plant. The cause of death was believed to have been a cluster bomb explosion. It was dropped by Russian troops [...]
Shalva Papuashvili (Facebook). After a long period of hesitation and criticism from the opposition, the ruling party of Georgia has finally decided to send a parliamentary delegation to Ukraine, headed by the chairman of parliament. The visit is expected to take place this weekend, Georgian Dream MP Davit Sergeenko told reporters on Wednesday. He also confirmed [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--While Ukraine is heroically fighting the aggressor and the Georgian people are strongly supporting it in this cause, a diplomatic row has broken out between Tbilisi and Kiev, causing embarrassment and shame for many Georgians. People gathered in the center of Tbilisi on Tuesday to show support for Ukraine and condemn the steps taken by the [...]
(Formulanews.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s comments, which many Georgians see as bowing down to an aggressive Russia, continues to cause anger, outrage and shame in the country. The hashtag #ღარიბაშვილიარგამოხატავსჩემსპოზიციას has gone viral on social media. It literally translates to "Garibashvili does not express my opinion". Georgians from a broad range of backgrounds and especially [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia is making it mandatory for all schools and kindergartens to fly the national flag and display the country’s official coat of arms on their buildings. These institutions will also be required to exhibit the text of the Georgian national anthem in a prominent place. The Parliament approved in the first reading the amendments to [...]
(DFWatch) TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgians are increasingly positive about minorities, including LGBT+ people, according to the new survey commissioned by The Council of Europe Office in Georgia, which covers a period between 2018 and 2021. The CoE presented key findings of the study Monday, which demonstrates that knowledge and appreciation of diversity in Georgian society increased [...]
Inal Ardzinba, the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia has dismissed an appeal by the breakaway region Abkhazia to the United Nations to be given status as an “observer state”. A spokesperson for Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called it a propaganda move with no real chance of succeeding. "Occupying regimes have [...]
Alexander Lukashenko. TBILISI, DFWatch--Autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko said Monday that Belarus might recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia if President Putin tells him to do so. “As soon as I understand and the President [of the Russian Federation] tells me that there is a need for this,” Lukashenko said in an interview with pro-governmental Russian journalist Vladimir [...]
Zurab Adeishvili. TBILISI, DFWatch--Zurab Adeishvili, a former Georgian justice minister who is an adviser to Ukraine's Prosecutor General, was attacked and beaten in Kyiv on Monday. Adeishvili was approached by four men in the street who proceeded to beat the Georgian politician, writes "Ukrainskaya Pravda" based on a source in the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine [...]
Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream, after lengthy deliberations, finally submitted a draft resolution in support of Ukraine to parliament on Wednesday for approval, which immediately drew criticism from the opposition after it was revealed that it did not mention neither Russia nor Putin. Two meetings were held between the Georgian Dream and opposition factions on Wednesday to [...]
Imprisoned former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili says that if Russia launches a direct military aggression on Ukraine, it will inevitably invade Georgia and occupy Black Sea ports that are of strategic importance to it. "According to my information, if Russia starts implementing a large-scale plan in Ukraine, it is going to capture Anaklia in the [...]
Chairman of Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze. TBILISI, DFWatch--The artificial crisis is over, we won the election convincingly, and the 'radical' opposition, whose leader is 'deservedly' serving a sentence in jail, is 'extremely weakened’, Georgian Dream chairman Irakli Kobakhidze stated as he summed up the political events of the last year. Writing on Facebook on Monday, Kobakhidze [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--While the crisis in relations between Russia and the West over NATO enlargement continues to escalate, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Karen Donfried reaffirmed the US’ support for Georgia in a phone call with Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Zalkaliani. According to the Georgian MFA, the sides exchanged views [...]
Igor Giorgadze. TBILISI, DFWatch--Tbilisi Court of Appeals on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Georgian security chief and former KGB operative Igor Giorgadze against DFWatch and its editor Lasha Tughushi, in which he demanded a retraction of information published in a 2016 article. The Court of Appeals fully agreed with and upheld an earlier decision [...]
(coe.int) Co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will make a fact-finding visit to Tbilisi Wednesday for the monitoring of obligations and commitments by Georgia. Titus Corlatean (Romania, SOC) and Claude Kern (France, ALDE) will mainly focus on the recent political developments, the October 2021 local elections, the reform of the judiciary, [...]
Mikheil Saakashvili at the Tbilisi Court, November 29 (Imedinews photo). TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia's former president, Mikheil Saakashvili, was given "anti-psychotic drugs" while in custody without a medical need, according to an organization involved in his defense, while his lawyer adds "suspicions grow" this might be done deliberately to impair his mental health. The Rehabilitation Center for Victims [...]
Supporters of Mikheil Saakashvili rallied in Tbilisi Friday. (Adjaratv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--In Georgia, the government Friday agreed to transfer the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili to a military hospital, after a sudden deterioration of his health. The ex-president’s fifty day long hunger strike has caused a public outrage and a growing pressure from the West. Saakashvili and [...]
(RL/RFE.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili was rushed to a prison hospital in Tbilisi Monday evening, reportedly due to a deteriorating health condition after being on a hunger strike for 39 days. Saakashvili had been held in Rustavi penitentiary since October 1, when he was arrested after returning to his home country for the [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s health condition deteriorated critically Monday, after 25 days of hunger strike. His condition was so serious that he required emergency treatment by doctors. After a while his condition improved, said the former president’s defense lawyer Dimitri Sadzaglishvili. "Saakashvili is now entering such a phase of starvation that his health is [...]
Amiran Gamkrelidze. (TV Pirveli.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Officials in Georgia are considering a return to tougher Covid-19 restrictions after a sharp rise in new cases, but are likely to wait until after the second round of the local elections on October 30. Amiran Gamkrelidze, head of the National Center for Disease Control, the key person in managing the [...]
People brought dolls, flowers and candles to the site where an apartment building collapsed in Batumi, Georgia, killing nine people. (IPN.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia is mourning the victims of the collapse of a 7-storey building in Batumi, while investigators are working to identify the causes of the tragedy, which killed nine people, including three children. People bring [...]
Georgians went to the polls Saturday to elect municipal councils and mayors. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia's local elections have so far earned mixed results, with both the ruling party and the opposition celebrating victory and highlighting their own success. Although the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) won a landslide victory in the proportional list and received 47% of the [...]
Former President Mikheil Saakashvili. TBILISI, DFWatch--Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili allegedly returned on Friday to his home country on Friday after eight and a half years’ absence. Law enforcement authorities arrested the former leader the same evening. The news about the ex-president’s arrest sparked celebrations among the opposition and frustration within the government, and threatened to [...]
Altercation between Nika Melia (left) and Irakli Kobakhidze at the EU office in Tbilisi. (Ambebi.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s ruling party, GD, criticizes EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell for being too timid in his criticism of the leader of the opposition party UNM Nika Melia after a verbal confrontation outside the EU office in Tbilisi on Thursday. Melia approached [...]
Nika Melia. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--The largest opposition party’s candidate for Tbilisi mayor has lost his seat in the Georgian parliament. Nika Melia, leader of the largest opposition party United National Movement (UNM), asked for the revocation himself in July, after the ruling party abandoned the EU mediated compromise agreement negotiated by European Council President Charles Michel. [...]
Zurab Makharadze (center with a microphone) and Archpriest Spiridon (left, with a wooden cross) at the rally in front of parliament. (Megatv.ge) The ombudsman calls for the prosecution of an ultra-nationalist journalist and an archpriest of the Georgian Orthodox Church for organizing violence against journalists and LGBTQ rights activists. Ombudsman Nino Lomjaria said 53 people have [...]
Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of Georgia's ruling party, Georgian Dream. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s ruling party has dashed the opposition's hopes of holding early elections for parliament in 2022 as a spokesman ruled it out entirely regardless of how few votes Georgian Dream will be able to get in the local elections this October. "Even if Georgian Dream gets [...]
Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s Public Defender calls for postponing the local elections amid skyrocketing numbers of new Covid-19 cases and deaths. Nino Lomjaria’s call is backed by the opposition, but the government categorically rules out postponing the poll, which is scheduled for October. "We have more than 60-70 dead per day. What [...]
(Photo: Instagram / _svetlana__radionova_) TBILISI, DFWatch--Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Georgian National Platform, a coalition of more than 200 non-governmental organizations, expresses concern over an oil spill off Russia’s Black Sea coast and calls on the Georgian government to take appropriate measures to prevent the spill from causing major environmental destruction and threatening the Georgian coastline. [...]
People storming Kabul airport after Taliban takeover of Afghan capital (VOA). TBILISI, DFWatch-Twenty two citizens of Georgia are stuck in Kabul and are unable to return to Georgia. They were scheduled to fly off on a Ukrainian plane on Monday, but were unable to reach the airport due to security concerns. They are currently in a [...]
(Facebook/MIA.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian government is tightening regulations due to the worsening epidemiological situation, but still refrains from reintroducing curfew and lockdown, measures that are wildly unpopular among the population. The government was originally expected to announce a new tightening of measures on Tuesday after news of hospitals buckling under the stress of skyrocketing Covid-19 numbers, [...]
Ekaterine Tikaradze at the briefing on Wednesday. (Government of Georgia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The recent surge in Covid-19 is causing a steadily deteriorating situation in Georgia and approaching crisis level. Hospitals are reporting an acute shortage of free beds and medical staff, while the government is considering more restrictions, something it did not intend to do before the [...]
The meeting of the Coordinating Council was presided over by PM Irakli Gharibashvili, August 8, 2021. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Against the backdrop of a skyrocketing number of new cases of Covid-19 and a steady increase in the number of deaths, authorities in Georgia decided Monday to bring back stricter regulations, but stopped short of using another round [...]
Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies claims by the opposition that the three Baltic countries refused to host PM Irakli Gharibashvili, who was planning a visit. One of the largest online publications in Lithuania, 15min.lt, confirmed, based on anonymous sources, that the PM's request to come on an official trip to [...]
Salome Zourabichvili (1tv.ge). TBILISI, DFWatch--President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili has criticized the ruling Georgian Dream party for unilaterally abandoning the EU-mediated agreement. She also reiterated the importance of the country's European development. This is the first time the president has criticized the political movement that brought her to the presidency. Salome Zourabichvili was able to win [...]
Shanae Brooke (Facebook). TBILISI, DFWatch--The body of an Australian expat was found at the Mtatsminda Recreational Park near the center of Tbilisi. It is reported that she was allegedly murdered. Shanae Brooke, 31, went missing Friday when she went to Mtatsminda Park for jogging, which she did routinely. She was last heard from placing a disturbing [...]
Lado Khinchegashvili (Sova.news). TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgian Dream has nominated Olympic champion Vladimer (Lado) Khinchegashvili as a candidate for mayor of Gori in the October local elections. Following the results of the previous elections in this city, the 30-year-old athlete, who has not yet made a public announcement to leave the sport, will most likely win this election. [...]
Lasha Darsalia (Imedinews). TBILISI, DFWatch--As NATO’s military drills ‘Agile Spirit 2021’ got underway in Georgia this week, spokespersons for both Georgia and Russia made warning statements illustrating the risk of another round of conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov first said NATO’s Agile Spirit 2021 exercise with 2,500 military personnel from 12 alliance members and three partner [...]
Irakli Kobakhidze (center) at the GD briefing. Georgian Dream’s withdrawal from the EU-brokered political agreement has fueled ongoing political confrontation in the country. The case has even reached the point where part of the opposition is considering boycotting the local elections scheduled in October. One MP, Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, has already left parliament. On Wednesday the [...]
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s public defender calls on law enforcement bodies to react to the violent attacks on journalists during the night of July 5 and the following days and make the results public. After crowds of ultra conservatives hunted down journalists in the street and beat them in the night of July 5 [...]
UNM candidate for Tbilisi mayor, Nika Melia (left), and UNM candidate for city assembly chair, Elene Khoshtaria. TBILISI, DFWatch--The largest opposition party in Georgia, the United National Movement, on Friday nominated party chairman Nika Melia as its candidate for Tbilisi Mayor in the local elections in October. But Melia has so far failed to secure broad [...]
Vaccination center at Hualing shopping mall in Tbilisi (1tv.ge). TBILISI, DFWatch--The government in Georgia is facing a setback in its fight against the coronavirus as experts predict an increase in daily cases in the next 2-3 weeks, but the government reiterates that it’s not planning another lockdown. Meanwhile, the mass vaccination program is continuing and the [...]
PM Irakli Gharibashvili rules out another lockdown, saying that country’s economy can’t withstand it. (Stopcov.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian government is not going to declare a lockdown ahead of the upcoming elections, despite a rapidly deteriorating situation in tackling the spread of the coronavirus. Many see the government’s avoidance of new unpopular restrictions in light of the [...]
Rally organizers demanded the resignation of PM Irakli Garibashvili, as well as a full independent investigation of the death of TV cameraman Lekso Lashkarava. (Interpressnews.) Opposition parties, journalists and civil society activists are protesting in the center of Tbilisi on Sunday, demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, after the death of a cameraman who was [...]
Far-right activists attacking a reporter for Formula TV. (IPN). TBILISI, DFWatch--Dozens of people were injured in Tbilisi on Monday as far-right activists attacked the LGBTQ Pride parade. There were incidents several places in the capital. The main targets of the attacks were journalists and cameramen for several opposition TV stations that are considered "propagandists for liberalism." [...]
(Adjaratv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia is relaxing or lifting the two Covid-19 measures that have irritated the population the most. PM Irakli Gharibashvili said on Tuesday that the government is lifting the nightly curfew from July 1, although restaurants and cafes, as well as other entertainment establishments will be open only until midnight. At the same time, Gharibashvili [...]
Giorgi Gakharia and Bidzina Ivanishvili (Facebook/GeorgianDream) TBILISI, DFWatch--The founder of Georgia’s ruling party has publicly dispelled rumors that he is secretly supporting the former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia’s new political party. In a letter published on Monday, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili called Gakharia a "traitor" and categorically ruled out collaborating with the party he founded. Gakharia, who [...]
Locals gather at Sakulia cemetery after the clash. TBILISI, DFWatch--At least two people were injured as protesters clashed with police in a village near Tskaltubo Tuesday evening. The clashes broke out as special forces arrived in the village of Sakulia in order to arrest a 29-year-old man for involvement in protests against the Namakhvani hydropower project. [...]
Paata Imnadze (1tv.ge). TBILISI, DFWatch--With the tourist season approaching, Georgia is thinking about opening its land borders. "Discussions are already underway and the border will probably be opened," said Paata Imnadze, Scientific Director at National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, which is the main body handling the pandemic in the country. Everything has been [...]
Levan Vasadze with his followers threatening to set up vigilante patrols against LGBT activists in Vere Park in Tbilisi, 2019. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--After years of denying his intention to go into politics, the conservative millionaire Levan Vasadze finally announced on Thursday that he is launching a public movement. "I’ve made a very difficult decision in my [...]
Rescuer workers at Guli Glacier. (Emergency Management Agency). TBILISI, DFWatch--A foreign tourist has died in a climbing accident in the Svaneti highlands, according to the Emergency Management Agency of Georgia. Officials did not name the deceased but indicated it was a citizen of Switzerland. Local media reported that the death was caused by a fall into [...]
(Sputnik-Abkhazia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Russia has sent its first batch of the Sputnik V vaccine to Abkhazia, where people will start receiving the jab after the May 9 Victory Day celebrations. The Russian vaccine against the coronavirus will only be administered in one location, Sokhumi Republican Hospital. Initially, only medical staff, teachers, government employees and law enforcement officials [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--In light of rising concerns about the Covid-19 situation in the country, Georgia may tighten its existing restrictions or bring in tougher measures. The government will hold a meeting with specialists on Wednesday, where a final decision will be made, the health minister said. The epidemic is getting worse, and with more than 10,000 active [...]
European Council President Charles Michel. (Twitter.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The European Union on Sunday made another attempt at breaking the political deadlock in Georgia, offering a compromise that envisions the release of perceived political prisoners as well as early parliamentary elections. The EU earlier suggested Georgia's factions agree to the release of UNM leader Nika Melia and Giorgi [...]
Archil Talakvadze (Imedinews). TBILISI, DFWatch--The ruling Georgian Dream party has unilaterally signed an EU-mediated compromise agreement intended to overcome the political crisis in Georgia, which addresses one of the two main demands of the opposition. “Today, the Georgian Dream publicly signs a document created under the auspices of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, [...]
Rescue workers at the Enguri River (RFE/RL) TBILISI, DFWatch--Four people were found dead on the banks of the Enguri River on Wednesday. The four are believed to have drowned as they tried to cross from Abkhazia to Georgian-controlled territory bypassing Russian border guards and Abkhaz customs officers. Rescue workers found the bodies of three people Wednesday [...]
Former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has 65% approval rating among Georgians. TBILISI, DFWatch--A recently retired prime minister is one of Georgia's most popular politicians, according to a new survey published by the International Republican Institute (IRI) on Monday. Giorgi Gakharia, who resigned in February citing disagreement with his party colleagues over the detention of UNM leader [...]
Christian Danielsson addressing the media after the failed talks. TBILISI, DFWatch--EU-mediated negotiations to end the political crisis in Georgia have once more ended in failure. The compromise proposed by EU envoy Christian Danielsson was rejected Tuesday evening by both the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) and the group of opposition parties led by United National Movement (UNM). [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s vaccination effort has run into a roadblock, as many people are skeptical of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is believed to have caused the death of a 27-year-old nurse a week ago. The attitude toward the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech is more positive, although the available supplies of it are limited. A large [...]
(Facebook/გახარია.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on Monday that he has not left politics, without further explanation, leaving people guessing as to what he might have meant. "I am not leaving anything, not even politics," Giorgi Gakharia wrote on his Facebook page on Monday. But when asked by reporters, he did not explain [...]
(Government of Georgia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia is not halting its use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine after a 27-year-old female nurse suffered anaphylactic shock and went into a coma on Thursday after receiving the jab. "We recently heard a report about AstraZeneca from a strict European regulator. It is recognized as a safe vaccine that has far more [...]
Irakli Garibashvili meeting with Josep Borrell, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. (Facebook/Government of Georgia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s prime minister on Tuesday rejected the two main demands put forth by the opposition, thus prolonging the country’s four and a half months long political crisis. "The next parliamentary elections will be held in 2024," Prime [...]
Enguri Bridge. (DFWatch.) GALI, DFWatch--Gali residents demand the opening of the checkpoint on Enguri Bridge and the lifting of the five-day quarantine for travelers that have been tested for Covid-19. Locals told DFWatch that because of the quarantine requirement, many people have resorted to a dangerous route, wading through the surging Enguri river at the so-called [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--The two armed Russian service members advanced 500 meters into territory controlled by Georgia and fired warning shots in an attempt to seize a local resident in the village Khurvaleti, about 50km northwest of Tbilisi, an eyewitness told Radio Tavisupleba. Khurvaleti is located at the southern tip of the breakaway region South Ossetia, whose de [...]
Bera Ivanishvili (left) and Irakli Garibashvili. (Newposts.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Audio recordings aired by an opposition TV channel in Georgia have caused outrage and demands for the prime minister’s resignation. The recordings, aired Saturday on TV Pirveli, appear to show Georgia’s current PM Irakli Garibashvili and ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili's rapper son Bera discussing with Anzor Chubinidze, [...]
(Avianews.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia expects air traffic to increase sharply as Covid-19 related restrictions on regular flights are lifted, to reach a level this month seven times what it was in August last year. By summer, the number of flights per week may reach 200, a 20-fold increase, the Minister of Economy Natia Turnava said Thursday at [...]
Policemen guarding the entrance to parliament during an opposition protest on March 2, 2021. (RFE/RL) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s opposition have decided to scale back their protest rallies, citing a wish to not give the ruling Georgian Dream party an excuse to stall the talks initiated by the President of the European Council. The decision was made at [...]
Opposition supporters rallied in front of the government office in Tbilisi. (Newposts.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--A police raid of the headquarters of Georgia’s largest opposition party and the arrest of its leader Tuesday morning has further deepened the political crisis in the country. Nika Melia, leader of the United National Movement, was dragged out of the party building [...]
A school building in Sida, another village in the Gali region. (DFWatch.) GALI, DFwatch--In the village of Tagiloni in the Gali district of breakaway Abkhazia, there has been an explosion of cases of an illness locals suspect to be Covid-19, following a burial feast held ten days ago. Locals reached out to DFWatch, to appeal for [...]
Irakli Garibashvili speaking at Georgian Dream headquarters during his nomination. TBILISI, DFWatch--The opposition in Georgia breathed a sigh of relief Thursday, as Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced his resignation and the MInistry of Internal Affairs postponed the arrest of Nika Melia, leader of the largest opposition party in the country, UNM. Opposition leaders had spent the [...]
Nika Melia, surrounded by opposition politicians, speaking to journalists at the UNM office after court ruling. (Timer.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Five out of eight opposition parties and blocks which passed one percent barrier in 2020 parliamentary election - UNM, European Georgia, Lelo, Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Labour Party - voice their support for and pledge to defend UNM’s Nika Melia [...]
Nika Melia talking with supporters at an opposition rally in Tbilisi, Novermber, 2020. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The leader of Georgia’s main opposition party faces imprisonment after participating in a protest in 2019. The prosecutor's office asked parliament on Friday to strip Nika Melia of his immunity as a member of parliament. If parliament agrees - and that [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--A video allegedly depicting the forced engagement of an underage girl has sparked public outrage in Georgia and even in neighboring Azerbaijan, where the ombudsman asked her Georgian counterpart to get involved. The case gained country-wide recognition after a video was posted on social media February 8 allegedly depicting the engagement party of a young [...]
Anti-lockdown rally by representatives of the hospitality sector outside the government building in Tbilisi on January 30. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Amid growing discontent and irritation among the population, the Georgian government is lifting some of the most painful restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. From Monday, February 8, public transport in major cities will be allowed to [...]
Aleko Elisashvili answering journalists at the parliament (video grab from 1tv.ge) One of the opposition parties in Georgia announced Friday that they are calling off their boycott of parliament, breaking ranks with the rest of the opposition, which have held that the October 31 election was fraught with violations and should be annulled. Chairman of the [...]
Nino Lomjaria. (ombudsman.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Penitentiary authorities in Georgia have unleashed “prisoners managed by the administration” to systematically carry out “verbal attacks, threats and aggression” against representatives of the Public Defender's Office, Ombudswoman Nino Lomjaria said on Wednesday. The PDO earlier released a report claiming the management model of semi-open prisons was based on an informal hierarchy [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian opposition’s boycott of parliament after the October 31 election is in doubt, after one of the parties indicated they will break off the boycott. Aleko Elisashvili, leader of the Citizens party, said Wednesday that he will announce the party’s decision to take up their two seats in parliament in a few days. "If [...]
Amiran Gamkrelidze. (1tv.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia plans to gradually lift Covid-19 related restrictions as the most recent statistics show a reduction both in new cases and the number of deaths, the country's chief epidemiologist Amiran Gamkrelidze said on Monday. This process will be accompanied by an increase in the total number of tests and the start of [...]
Former party secretary Irakli Kobakhidze was "unanimously" elected as new leader of Georgian Dream. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s ruling party on Saturday elected former party secretary Irakli Kobakhidze as new chairman, after its billionaire founder stepped down. The choice of a new leader and new composition of the political council at the party convention are important developments for [...]
Nino Ananiashvili. TBILISI, DFWatch--A Russian theater in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, which was supposed to be headed by the wife of a prominent Georgian opposition politician, has terminated its contract with her. Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater said the decision was provoked by the fact that former Bolshoi prima ballerina Nino Ananiashvili made a premature [...]
Wildfires in the hills above Gagra. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A number of wildfires have been put out in the Gali district of Abkhazia but the fires have now moved further north, threatening Gagra, an iconic holiday resort on the Black Sea coast. Despite lacking the means to fight the fires, the breakaway authorities in Sokhumi have rejected [...]
https://www.facebook.com/nona.khasaia.5/videos/1123278944771617/ Fire in the village Zemo Barghebi published by a local resident at about 2 pm. GALI, DFWatch--Wildfires tore through several villages here in the Gali district of Abkhazia on Tuesday. The fires broke out late last night and soon spread to populated areas due to strong winds. Despite reports by the breakaway authorities that they [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia on Sunday re-introduced strict Covid-19 restrictions that will last until January 15. The rationale behind the measures adopted by the government in November was to reduce people’s mobility amid a worrying rise in the number of cases, which were well above 4,000 new cases a day during that month and continued growing. After a [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--At the end of a difficult year with families struggling to get through a pandemic, Georgia’s largest electricity provider announced a price hike that risks causing major discontent. On Monday, the CEO of Energo-Pro Georgia, which in 2016 controlled 62% of the country’s energy distribution, said an increase in electricity tariffs was inevitable. "The existing [...]
Opposition parties holding a joint briefing after the October 31 elections. (On.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Facing growing criticism from the West, Georgian Dream seems to soften its strict stance towards the opposition. Although parliament on Wednesday adopted a bill at the first reading that strips all opposition parties of their state funding, GD said it would send the [...]
Rusudan Samushia. (Facebook.) GALI, DFWatch--Classes have been suspended in public schools in Abkhazia as in the rest of Georgia because of the pandemic, and also here in Gali, local teachers try their best to assist students with distance learning. Despite many difficulties, including the interruption of electricity supply, local teachers are still more or less able [...]
GD Executive Secretary Irakli Kobakhidze. TBILISI, DFWatch--After talks between Georgian Dream and the opposition failed to defuse the political crisis, the ruling party in Georgia has started to weigh in with threats of revoking registration for the largest opposition party and stripping others of state funding. On Thursday, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Georgian Dream executive secretary, said [...]
Gali. (DFWatch.) GALI, DFWatch--Under conditions that amount to a blockade, the population of Gali are finding ways of sorting out their daily life problems, such as how to receive pensions when they can’t get to a Georgian bank. In spring, Abkhazia’s separatist authorities closed the only road connecting the Gali district with the rest of Georgia, [...]
First session of newly elected parliament with opposition seats vacant. (Tabula.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia's newly elected parliament opened its first session on Friday with only one party in attendance. All opposition parties are boycotting the parliament despite many rounds of negotiations and efforts by Western diplomats to break the deadlock. Nine parties surpassed the threshold in the [...]
(apsadgil.info) GALI, DFWatch--Georgians living in Gali welcome the opening by separatist authorities of Enguri Bridge for travel in one direction, but demand they also allow passage in the other direction across the bridge that connects Abkhazia with Georgia proper. Although Sukhumi does not allow the passage from Gali to Zugdidi, locals think that if the Georgian [...]
The textile which Bebua is accused of burning (also shown in the video below) was part of decoration in the colours of Abkhaz flag. TBILISI, DFWatch--A resident of Gali who is accused by the breakaway authorities of Abkhazia of vandalism and dishonoring the flag, has been sentenced to 9 years in prison. The Georgian side protests [...]
Speaker of Parliament Archil Talakvadze exiting the meeting at the US diplomat’s residence. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--The third round of negotiations between the Georgian government and opposition ended with minor progress on Monday. The talks were mediated by Western diplomats and aimed at ending the boycott of the newly elected parliament. Nine parties overcame the 1% threshold [...]
CoE Committee of Ministers sitting in Strasbourg, France. TBILISI, DFWatch--The Council of Europe (CoE) has urged Russia to not delay further the payment of EUR 10 million damages to Georgia for human rights violations when thousands of Georgian citizens were expelled from Russia following a spy row between the two neighboring countries. The European Court of [...]
(Gal Info.) DFWatch--The separatist authorities in Abkhazia have decided to temporarily open the Enguri checkpoint with Georgia proper from December 3 to 10 for "humanitarian" reasons. Those who possess Abkhaz citizenship or permanent residence there and are Covid-19 free can cross the “border” from 9 am till 7 pm during this period, reads a statement released [...]
Enguri Bridge. GALI, DFWatch--The pandemic has caused an extremely difficult situation for tens of thousands of Gali residents whose livelihood depends on commuting to Georgia proper. The restrictions to halt the spread of Covid-19 have exacerbated the situation for locals here in Gali, a mostly ethnic Georgian area of Abkhazia, where residents are already suffering under [...]
Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced drastic new measures after consultations with major businesses and business unions. (Imedi.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian government on Thursday announced new restrictions amid a skyrocketing number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, and with a healthcare system on the verge of collapse. The new measures, though anticipated, are much less strict than what [...]
Public school in the village Sida, Gali district. (DFWatch) GALI, DFWatch--School closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic are worsening an already difficult situation in Gali district in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia. Teachers are struggling to continue classes remotely, but with unstable electricity supply and a lack of computers and Internet, few students are able to [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday found Georgia in violation of ARticle 2 - the right to life - in the high-profile case of torture and death of Georgian sergeant, an Iraq War veteran. In its judgment, the ECHR unanimously held that “there has been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention [...]
Opposition parties held a “silent rally” on Rustaveli Avenue. (Formula TV) The Georgian opposition should call off their threats of boycotting parliament and instead fight for change within the parliament, a senior US State Department official told the traveling press at a briefing Wednesday. “So to see them calling for a boycott again is like watching [...]
Amiran Gamkrelidze, director of Georgia's National Center for Disease Control. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--A few months ago, Georgia was commended for its success in containing Covid-19, but in the last few weeks the country has seen a record spread of the virus causing the disease. There are growing concerns that the health care system is failing to [...]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRev36mExbk Activists quoted from Georgia Orwell's book Animal Farm, that 'some animals are more equal than others'. At least one person was injured during a brawl at the offices of the Georgian Football Federation Friday, during an opposition rally against the presence of high-ranking government officials at the UEFA Cup qualifier between Georgia and North Macedonia [...]
The EU ambassador's car leaving the US ambassador's residence after the meeting. (Video grab from Mtavari Arkhi.) Government and opposition representatives met for the first time Thursday evening at the residence of US Ambassador Kelly Degnan to look for solutions to the continuing political crisis in the country. The meeting lasted three hours and was attended [...]
Opposition rally at the residence of Bidzina Ivanishvili (RFE/RL) TBILISI, DFWatch--Shots were fired outside the residence of Georgian Dream leader, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili on Friday, during a rally by the opposition party United National Movement and its allies to protest what they call “total rigging” of the October 31 parliamentary election. No-one was injured in the [...]
CEC chairwoman Tamar Zhvania is confronted by an opposition member of the CEC during an announcement of preliminary results. TBILISI, DFWatch--Eight of the nine political parties which qualified for seats in Georgia’s new parliament declare the October 31 election fraudulent and demand a new election and the resignation of the head of the Central Election Commission. [...]
Nika Melia, UNM's candidate for the Tbilisi district Gldani. TBILISI, DFWatch--The ruling party holds a significant lead after Georgia’s general election, according to the Central Elections Commission, and will be able to form a new government without the need for a coalition. The opposition, meanwhile, refuses to accept the election results released by CEC, insisting they [...]
Opposition leaders at the signing of agreement at Labor Party office in Tbilisi. (1tv.ge) A day before the general election, ten opposition parties signed an agreement not to form a coalition government with the Georgian Dream, a political party presided by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili which rules the country since 2012. The parties state that current government [...]
Irakli Kobakhidze, secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party. (Facebook.) Three days ahead of Georgia’s general election, the government is trading barbs with the opposition with each side accusing each other of extreme measures, ranging from election rigging to staging a violent overthrow of the government. Minister of Defense Irakli Garibashvili, who has previously served as [...]
Police and forensic experts on Monday searched the house of Esebua's parents near Zugdidi. TBILISI, DFWatch--An ongoing police hunt in Georgia as so far failed to turn up a former soldier suspected of taking dozens of people hostage in a bank in Zugdidi, a town in west Georgia, and escaping with USD 500,000 of ransom money. [...]
Photos of those fallen in Karabakh are displayed at Surb Khach (The Holy Cross) church in Akhalkalaki. (Jnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--At least 18 natives of Georgia’s Javakheti region have died in the ongoing Karabakh war, an Akhalkalaki-based news website reports. The list published on Jnews.ge includes both volunteers and military personnel. Many natives of Javakheti live in [...]
Gigi Ugulava. Opposition infighting intensifies to new extremes three weeks ahead of general elections as former ally of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili accuses him of violating opposition unity. Gigi Ugulava, the former mayor of Tbilisi and leader of the European Georgia party, says "Saakashvili stabbed opposition unity in the back." In a video address posted on Facebook, [...]
Indestructible Brotherhood-2019 in Tajikistan. (CSTO) Amid full-scale war in Nagorny Karabakh, Armenia refuses to take part in Russian-led military exercises “Indestructible Brotherhood-2020", which will be held in Belarus in mid-October, the Armenian Defense Ministry stated Monday. The exercises are dedicated to carrying out peacekeeping missions. It is scheduled on October 12 to 16 at the Losvido [...]
Lasha Darsalia. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia categorically denies rumors spread on various social networks that weapons are being brought to Azerbaijan through its territory and calls on the Armenian side not to rely on such misinformation and fake news. "We observe that various types of misinformation and fakes are spread in the social space, as if weapons [...]
(Jnews.ge) Ethnic Armenians of Georgia’s Javakheti regions blocked for several hours Tuesday a road that connects Georgia with Turkey and didn’t let trucks with Turkish numberplates in at the village of Kartsakhi, Akhalkalali Municipality. About a thousand people, mostly men, participated in the rally, local news agency Jnews reports. They suspect Turkey transfers weaponry [...]
Registration of volunteers at Ninotsminda stadium. (Radio Nor) Ongoing armed conflict between Azerbaijan and breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh has had strong repercussion in Georgia with its ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijan minorities. Both groups hold mass rallies in support of their ethnically kin states. People in Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda, two municipalities in southern part of the country [...]
Coalition presentation. (Newposts.ge) Georgia’s largest opposition force forms an electoral block with four small political parties to propose candidacy of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili for PM office. State for the People, Republican Party, Chven Tviton, and Progress and Freedom joined ranks with UNM to defeat “oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili” and signed a formal agreement on Tuesday. [...]
Yuri Shvytkin. (Facebook) As the world, and democratic forces in Russia, remain shocked by cold-blooded poisoning of President Putin’s top foe by Novichok, the Kremlin points at Georgian and the United States as possible perpetrators. Russia is not engaged in the manufacture of chemicals from the Novichok group, such laboratories are located in Georgia [...]
Chief prosecutor Uruzmag Jagaev (Cominf.org) Situation in the breakaway South Ossetia remains tense after torture and death of a 28 y/o local man by police. The opposition and relatives keep on holding rallies in Tskhinvali, while the deputies at the de facto parliament have started boycotting sessions. Opposition MPs, who constitute majority in de [...]
(Cominf.org) The de facto leader of breakaway South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov dissolved “the government” Friday evening after hundreds of people rushed to the central square of Tskhinvali to protest a death of young man in Tskhinvali hospital. Inal Jabiev, 28 y/o, was suspected of attacking de facto minister of interior Igor Naniev. The latter’s [...]
(Faqcebook.) Georgia cracks on educational institutions linked to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen again. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education declined appeal by a private schooled linked to Turkish President Erdogan’s top foe. The school named after Shota Rustaveli is located in Rustavi, about 20 km east from Tbilisi and is regarded by locals as [...]
(1tv.ge) Georgia marks August 25 as a day of mourning for victims of deadly crash on the road to Khevsureti. Out of 20 people on board of minibus, 17 died and three others, all women, are currently in the critical condition. The tragedy occurred on the mountainous road leading to the ancient fortress of [...]
Opposition meeting at GLP office. (IPN) A group of Georgia’s opposition political forces, including United National Movement, the biggest opposition party, has agreed to unite their efforts “to defend” their votes against possible rigging by government in general elections in October. "Opposition parties will work in a coordinated manner in all electoral districts, including [...]
A coalition which unites over 180 Georgian NGOs harshly criticizes violence of Belarusian authorities against peaceful citizens in the wake of presidential elections held on August 9, and urges Georgian government not to recognize the election results. “As a result of actions taken by the riot police, thousands of people have been arrested and two have died who protested non-compliance of [...]
Giorgi Shakarashvili (FC Saburtalo). The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia claims it has untangled a mystery behind a high profile case of tragic death of a young Tbilisi football player. Five young men, including two underage adolescents and a rugby player, were direct culprits of the intentional homicide, the POG representative said at the briefing [...]
Salome Zourabichvili (1tv.ge). Despite a growing number of appeals, President Salome Zourabichvili has rejected the idea of pardoning Giorgi Rurua, an opposition activist and former paramilitary. “I won’t pardon [him]. The Georgian society knows better than me everything about him and is aware why I will not make this decision. No one and nothing [...]
Tamar Bachaliashvili (Facebook). The mysterious disappearance and death of a 23 year old programmer cause mass agitation in Georgia. The police clearly indicate that cause of death was a suicide, which is flatly rejected by the family. Many in Georgia point at the tragedy as an example of the low efficiency of police, which [...]
GD president Bidzina Ivanishvili (left) and speaker of parliament Archil Talakvadze. (Facebook.) Georgia’s ruling party received almost half of revenues totally got by all parties in 2019, whilst ultra-conservative Alliance of Patriots is on the second place, according to the findings of Transparency International Georgia, a major Tbilisi-base watchdog. When it comes to private [...]
Davit Chakua (center) upon his extradition in Batumi airport. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Germany Friday extradited the former head of Georgia's prison department Davit Chakua, who is charged with abuse of powers, humiliating and inhumane treatment, provoking a crime, falsification of evidence and influencing a witness. A plane with Chakua on board landed at Batumi airport. [...]
Activities such as exhibitions, trainings and conferences are expected to be allowed from July 6 on, but this does not apply to swimming pools and fitness centers, said Economy Minister Natia Turnava Tuesday after Interagency Coordinating Council meeting. "Of course, this will be done in accordance with certain rules. In fact, the Ministry of Health has [...]
Sokhumi regime re-opens the sole crossing point on the river Enguri for three days for “humanitarian reasons” for the return of “citizens and residents of the republic temporarily being in Georgia”, the breakaway republic’s security service states on its website. Between June 22 and June 24, the passage through the checkpoint will be carried out daily [...]
Riot police at the scene of Vasambeg Bokov arrest. (RFE/RL) Mounting evidence indicates the authoritarian leader of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has sent a hitman “to punish” Georgian journalist for publicly insulting President Vladimir Putin of Russia. The State Security Service of Georgia (SUS) Monday late evening confirmed information that had earlier that day been [...]
(Girchi.com) A couple dozen people, mostly gym employees and libertarian opposition party Girchi members, rallied in front of Georgian government in Tbilisi Tuesday demanding re-opening gyms. Protesters say they don’t understand why they are forbidden to exercise and expect explanation from government. "This ban damages people’s health more than the virus could have done," [...]
Wizzair planes at Kutaisi Int. Airport (1tv.ge) A Hungarian lowcoster WizzAir has removed 19 routes from Kutaisi, its base in Georgia, and decreased number of based aircraft to two, from previous three, Belgian aviation news platform aviation24.be reports relying on a Twitter user @SeanM1997 as a source. In July 2019, WizzAir announced that its [...]
(RFE/RL.) At least nine people were detained in Adjara Friday during a clash between the police and a group of people demanding extradition to Georgia of a prominent mobster. The clash occurred Friday afternoon after dozens of protesters blocked a road connecting Batumi to the Turkish border. The protesters, mainly relatives and friends of [...]
Sandro Bregadze (1tv.ge). Georgian far-right group Georgian March plans to set up a political party and settle deeper in Georgian politics, its leader Sandro Bregadze says. "We were forced to go into politics in order to create a strong, nationalist political center on the basis of the Georgian March,” Sandro Bregadze said in an [...]
