DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, DFWatch–The conservative Georgian businessman Levan Vasadze has demanded that the government impose the strictest possible control over the media, and even jail some journalists, otherwise “nothing will save this country”. “I address Bidzina Ivanishvili and our government to set up a regulator that will punish media outlets and individual journalists for libel and defamation, … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–Tbilisi city court on Friday released the two founders of Georgia’s largest bank against a 700,000 lari bail each. The two were also barred from leaving the country without notifying investigators. The defendants, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, said they will step down from their managerial positions at Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) in order … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–Police in Georgia Thursday detained the leader of an opposition party and charged him with participating in an attempted coup d’etat. Irakli Okruashvili, who served as defense minister and prosecutor general during Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidency, was apprehended as he was on his way to meet with members of a new political party, Victorious Georgia, … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–Police in Georgia have identified the person responsible for uploading to the internet a compromising video of an outspoken female member of parliament. The person identified by his initials as D.A. is currently serving a prison sentence in Armenia, a spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Tuesday. The spokesman added that … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–NATO asked breakaway Abkhazia to reopen a checkpoint to Georgia proper in 2016, local media report. The incident happened after the de facto authorities closed all but one of the crossings along the administrative border line that separates the breakaway republic from the rest of Georgia. Temur Nadaraia, who heads the de facto administration … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s largest opposition TV channel Rustavi 2 will likely be taken over by an allegedly government-backed investor after losing the final court battle over its ownership at the European Court of Human Rights. In Thursday’s judgment, the court held that there had been no violation of Article 6 § 1 of the European Convention … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–One of the opposition parties in Abkhazia has officially nominated its chairman Alhaz Kvitsinia as a candidate for president of the breakaway republic. A local party official said this in a speech at a party congress of the Amtsakhar party, one of the largest opposition parties in the disputed region. Aslan Bzhania, the joint … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–Three members of the Georgian parliament are to visit Moscow and meet the Russian Duma member whose recent visit to Tbilisi led to the country’s worst political crisis for years. The three Georgian MPs represent the Alliance of Patriots and plan to meet Duma member Sergey Gavrilov, who sparked outrage last month when he … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–A group of angry men assaulted a small protest rally at the residence of Georgian Dream leader, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili on Wednesday, according to the opposition United National Movement. The residence is situated at Shekvetili, a Black Sea coastal resort in Ozurgeti Municipality in western Georgia. The group of attackers consisted of 50 men, … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–Russia has granted citizens of South Ossetia the right to stay in Russia indefinitely, in a move seen as yet another step toward annexation of the tiny breakaway territory. Under the current bilateral agreement between Moscow and Tskhinvali, citizens of the breakaway republic are allowed to stay in Russia for up to 90 days … Read more