DFWatch staff 
GALI, DFWatch–After requiring people to obtain a residency permit which costs almost USD 200, breakaway Abkhazia now threatens to cut off pensions and teachers’ salaries of those who don’t comply. Locals in the Gali region consider the new regulation a form of blackmail.
TBILISI, DFWatch–A former Georgian military serviceman died Friday morning in South Ossetia after what appears to have been physical abuse by prison guards. Georgia demands an immediate and impartial investigation of the incident and access to the corpse for Georgian forensic experts. The breakaway region’s Security Ministry announced the death of Archil Tatunashvili Friday morning. … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–South Ossetia’s population is dwindling, and the de facto authorities will have to do something to address the problem, local media report.
In 2017, there were born 513 babies in the breakaway region, which has experienced a 20% drop in its birth rate
GALI, DFWatch–Four-wheel horse carts (‘tachkas’) are still the main means of transport for crossing the Enguri Bridge, which separates breakaway Abkhazia from Georgia proper. However, recently three ‘marshrutkas’ have started competing for this profitable business,
TBILISI, DFWatch–The president of Georgia has hinted that Russia may have manipulated media in Europe and made them focus on crime committed by Georgian nationals.
“It may be the result of Russian propaganda when in the capitals of some European countries
TBILISI, DFWatch–The manager of a private school linked to the exiled Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen was released on bail by a Tbilisi court on Monday.
Mustafa Emre Cabuk, quality manager at Demirel College, was arrested in May, 2017 in what appeared to be a case of pressure
TBILISI, DFWatch–A far right group in Georgia that is forming vigilante groups to patrol Tbilisi’s streets looking for ‘suspicious foreigners’ is also planning to establish a new political party.
Leaders of Georgian March confirmed this to different media outlets.
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili has been deported from Ukraine. Saakashvili was detained in central Kyiv and deported to Poland by the border guard service.
A statement on the service’s website says supporters of Saakashvili
TBILISI, DFWatch–The director of a Tbilisi hospital claims he was sentenced to prison on orders of the Azerbaijani government.
Ferman Ceyranli, the director of Lancet Clinic, was sentenced to six years in jail by Tbilisi city court on Friday.
