(Imedinews.ge) Georgia will scale down most of restrictions imposed in February and March, including public transportation, shopping malls and even cafes and restaurants, PM Giorgi Gakharia said Wednesday. Public transportation, including metro, buses and minibuses, will resume operating on Friday, while intercity travel will reopen on June 8. People shall wear medical face masks [...]
(Parliament.ge) A bill drafted by Georgian Dream MPs sparked a heated debate in the parliament Tuesday, with the opposition accusing the government of curtailing certain freedoms, including freedom of movement and freedom of assembly, i.e. holding protest rallies. The opposition suspects delivering additional rights to government may be abused in order to suppress critical [...]
(IPN.) Embattled Georgian Dream admitted a major concession on Friday when President Salome Zurabishvili pardoned two opposition politicians. The two, former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava and ex-Minister of Defense Irakli Okruashvili were soon released and immediately hailed Bidzina Ivanishvili, the GD leader, with scathing remarks. "The only easy promise that Ivanishvili made was to [...]
(Newposts.ge) Political conflict in Georgia over electoral reform has escalated again amid disagreement between the government and main opposition forces, as the latter accuses the Georgian Dream of renouncing an agreement struck in March 8. The tension is so high some opposition politicians threaten to resume protest rallies despite Covid 19 restrictions. In particular, [...]
Giorgi Gakharia (Imedinews photo). Georgia gradually scales down restrictions imposed due to Covid 19 outbreak in order to reopen its embattled tourism industry and pledges to establish special Covid-free zones in several mountainous resorts across the country. "Georgia can allocate Covid-free tourist zones. These could be Tskaltubo, Gudauri, Sairme, Abastumani, Borjomi and many more,” [...]
Davit Tsinaridze (Facebook.) Tbilisi court sentenced Georgian patrol police former chief Davit Tsinaridze to two months of pretrial detention for domestic violence on Thursday. Tsinaridze was detained Tuesday after he reportedly physically assaulted his wife and shot a pistol. “The investigation established that on the night of April 27, 2020, drunk [Davit Tsinaridze] verbally [...]
Stalin's monument in central Tskhinvali (formerly Stalinir) in early 1950s. (Facebook.) The head of South Ossetia puppet regime Anatoly Bibilov seems to revive Soviet-era name of Tskhinvali. The city, which was a capital of South Ossetia Autonomous Oblast, between 1934-1961 bore the name of Soviet leader Josef Stalin- Staliniri or Stalinir in Ossetian. It [...]
(Imedinews.) Dozens of farmers took to the streets in Marneuli municipality Wednesday protesting strict quarantine regime and appealing to the authorities for assistance. Farmers, mostly ethnic Azerbaijani from nearby settlements, assembled at Shulaveri, a village five km south from Marneuli, an administrative center in Kvemo Kartli region, and blocked traffic on a road leading [...]
Salome Zurabishvili (Newposts.ge) Georgia extends state of emergency by one month till May 22. “This decision will allow us to prepare for the lifting of restrictions,” said President Salome Zurabishvili on Tuesday, after announcing the decree. “The measures undertaken during this month helped us to control and check the spread and scale of the [...]
Irakli Okruashvili. (1tv.ge) Irakli Okruashvili, who served for various important offices under President Mikheil Saakashvili in early 2000s, was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday for taking part in the Gavrilov Night clashes with police. Initially he was accused of attempting coup d’état but later was charged with organizing of and participating [...]
Tengiz Tsertsvadze (TV Pirveli.) The peak of covid19 pandemic in Georgia will come in two or three weeks, a prominent medical doctor of infectious diseases said on Tuesday, adding that he predicts total number of cases at about 1,000. “Georgia will overcome this harshest challenge with minimal losses," said Dr. Tengiz Tsertsvadze, Director of [...]
Georgian Airways crew for emergency flight to Rome in March 10. (Facebook/GA.) Georgia designates additional emergency flights to evacuate its nationals from abroad due to covid19 pandemic. However, the demand is so high the carrier's sales portal was virtually flooded and broken in few minutes after sales started for the first flight. Up to [...]
(Facebook/Ketevan.Lortkipanidze.) Volunteers have delivered 1,500 home-grown tulips to medics fighting covid19 after a campaign in social media to raise money to support a stranded farmer. Kako Jeiranashvili is a 63 y/o resident of one of Kakheti village. He’s been growing tulips for years and usually sell them to Tbilisi markets. However, the coronavirus pandemic [...]
Giorgi Gakharia (Imedinews photo). Georgian government puts forward two billion GEL (USD 605 million) stimulus package to respond coronavirus and diminish damage, PM Giorgi Gakharia said on Wednesday. “According to the government decision, GEL 2 billion has been allocated for direct assistance to the economy. This is the assistance that will be directed to [...]
Army and police officers at the special checkpoint in western Georgia. (Facebook/MIA.) The government of Georgia on Tuesday released a list of 18 “economic directions”, which are permitted to keen on their activities during tightened quarantine measures. The list includes: - Medical facilities. - Businesses related to production, distribution and sale of food, and [...]
Giorgi Gakharia (Imedinews photo). PM Giorgi Gakharia declared full quarantine throughout the entire territory of Georgia on Monday evening. The quarantine will be enforced from 8 am Tuesday on and it prohibits free movement by any public transportation by 9 pm. From 9 pm till 8 am morning a curfew is being imposed. Any type [...]
Army checkpoint on Marneuli road. (MoD/Facebook.) Georgia introduces new measures to tackle covid19 spread inside the country as total number of cases reaches 61 with seven new cases reported on Monday. The decree issued by the government on March 23 bans all social gatherings which involve ten people or more, including funerals, weddings, birthday [...]
Azerbaijan’s authorities released on Tuesday Afgan Mukhtarli, an investigative journalist convicted on falsified charges. The released was ordered by the court, his lawyer Neymat Karimli said. He immediately left the country and flew to Germany, his wife Leyla Mustafayeva said. The release might be connected to Nowruz celebrations, Azerbaijan’s news agency Turan reports. Afgan Mukhtarli, an [...]
(Facebook.) Georgia introduces special measures to tackle coronavirus spread in the country by virtually closing borders and proposing shutdown of cafes and restaurants. On Monday, the government declared blanket ban on aliens to enter the country, and decided to close down ski resorts. Additionally, on Tuesday it ordered banning marshutkas as public transport across [...]
Health minister Ekaterine Tikaradze (Facebook). No new cases of coronavirus, except the one confirmed on Wednesday, have reported in Georgia so far, and public officials affirm citizens that situation is under control. “At this stage in Georgia there is no risk of a widespread coronavirus infection and therefore there is no threat of the [...]
Amiran Gamkrelidze (Facebook). Georgia ponders suspending direct flights to Iran amid the growing fear of coronavirus outbreak in the country. The government of Georgia has been discussing the issue for two days, said Amiran Gamkrelidze, the director of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC). Ultimately, the final decision is up [...]
(IPN) “I ensure you this government will be finished in a year,” said Vano Merabishvili, former PM and ex-minister of interior, on Thursday after release from prison where he served almost seven years. Merabishvili was an iconic figure in the government led by Mikheil Saakashvili and one of his closest allies. He’s been widely [...]
Gigi Ugulava at Labor Party office making statement upon hearing information about the judgment. (IPN) The political confrontation in Georgia hit another low point on Monday after the Supreme Court sentenced Giorgi "Gigi" Ugulava, key opposition politician, to 3 years in jail for diverting public funds during his tenure as Tbilisi Mayor in 2005-2013. [...]
Georgia’s major NGOs call upon the government to “fulfil the promise made to the public and move to a proportional electoral system”, which will be assumed as its readiness to ensure the country’s democratic development. It also will signal recovery of trust and repute in the eyes of Western partners and diminish the level of polarization, [...]
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 [...]
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. "I am in Sukhumi at the workplace in the state building," Khajimba was quoted by Interfax. The authorities work to “localize” [...]
Yuri Izotov. (Svoboda.org) TBILISI, DFWatch--Russian dissident and investigative journalist Yuri Izotov has applied to Georgian authorities for asylum. According to the Ukrainian news website, ua.krynr.com, he said that fears persecution by Russia for his journalistic activities. “[Russian authorities] carried out investigative check for my posts on social networks where I revealed the data of [...]
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 crossing the border, which is not recognized as such by Georgia. “My position was from the first day [of captivity], and [...]
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 disbands the checkpoint in Tsnelisi, the de facto president of the breakaway republic said on Thursday. "You address me as [...]
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 they dub as growing pressure by Georgian Dream authorities. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance seized bank accounts of and started [...]
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 well-known Georgian medical doctor and currently presides the Association of Orthopedists and Traumatologists of Georgia, was detained in mid-November in Akhalgori [...]
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, mainly young people, went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Government office and other state institutions to denounce police officers [...]
(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 individuals which, many civic activists argue, will eventually help ruling Georgian Dream party to tighten its grip to the country’s judiciary. [...]
(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 Dream has grudgingly agreed to discuss establishment of multi-mandate majoritarian electoral districts instead of single-member ones. “The ice has started to [...]
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 […] When we hear foreign politicians, foreign governments, attacking American NGO’s it is usually in cases like Russia and China, where there [...]
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 activists verbally and physically, opposition claims. This invokes a parallel with Euromaidan when the government of pro-Russian leader Victor Yanukovych unleashed [...]
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 out any chance of changing the electoral system. Kakha Kaladze, the Tbilisi mayor who has been front man for the GD [...]
The perpetrators of deadly shooting in Sokhumi center are still at large despite efforts by the regime law enforcers who have blocked almost all roads and checkpoints in Georgia’s breakaway republic of Abkhazia. At the same time, the de facto officials reveal the identity and possible motives of the crime. Two men, both 38 years old, [...]
(Apsny.Today) A mass police operation is underway in the breakaway Abkhazia in the wake of mass shooting in Sokhumi where three people were murdered and at least three others were wounded on Friday. The shootout occurred at the restaurant San-Remo in Sokhumi center on afternoon. Reportedly a group of masked men opened fire in [...]
(1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--37 people were detained in Tbilisi on Monday after riot police dispersed a group of opposition activists blocking the parliament to protest its failure to amend the electoral law. Four people, including two police officers, have sustained injuries, the police said. The police and protesters clashed at the entrance of parliament after [...]
(1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Thousands of people rallied onTbilisi's Rustaveli Ave on Thursday, after parliament failed to adopt a bill to use a proportional system during the 2020 general elections. The switch to proportional system, a long-standing demand by almost the entire opposition spectrum, was a promise by the ruling Georgian Dream party in the wake of “Gavrilov [...]
Petre Tsaava surrounded by journalists at the gates of Patriarchate where a session of the Holy Synod was held. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--A session of the Holy Synod in Tbilisi has shocked the entire nation, as one of its members accused the spiritual leader and most popular person in the country, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, of [...]
Archbishop Iakob of Bodbe. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--In Georgia, the government is embroiled in a scandal involving the Orthodox Church, after a bishop claimed the government tried to depose the highly respected Patriarch Ilia II. Iakob, Archbishop of Bodbe Diocese, made the incendiary claim during an appearance on Pirveli TV on Saturday. During the interview, [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze.(1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tbilisi City Court on Friday began hearing a high-profile criminal case against the founders of Georgia’s biggest private bank. The Prosecutor’s Office accuses Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze of money laundering. The two pleaded not guilty and accused the government and Bidzina Ivanishvili personally of engaging in political persecution. The charges [...]
Ketevan Tsikhelashvili. (Facebook) TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian government's peace program toward the breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia has yielded its first positive results, State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Ketevan Tsikhelashvili said Monday. “We have a very complex peace program, which was supported by the parliament. There is a lot of [...]
Valeri Bganba. De facto president Raul Khajimba has re-appointed Valeri Bganba, former Komsomol activist, as a “prime minister” of breakaway Abkhazia. Bganba was first appointed at the office in September 18, 2018, after his predecessor, Genadi Gagulia, was killed in a car accident on the road connecting Sokhumi with Russia’s Sochi when he was [...]
Ilia Jishkariani. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s ruling party was rocked by a sex scandal Saturday after a staff member of a high profile politician accused him of sexual assault and physical violence, sparking a public outcry. Police have launched an investigation against Ilia Jishkariani, a member of Tbilisi City Assembly (the Sakrebulo), after his assistant accused [...]
Restrictions on Enguri bridge imposed on June 27 were abolished on Wednesday, the Security Service of the breakaway Abkhazia states. The restrictions were imposed in the wake of anti-Russian protests in Tbilisi due to “security reasons”. Later the Sokhumi regime partially eased the ban to cross the sole passage to the breakaway republic from Georgia proper, [...]
The Enguri Bridge crossing is essential to many local businesses, who rely on trade in products such as hazelnuts. (DFWatch.) GALI, DFWatch--Sokhumi has brought in new restrictions on the administrative borderline between breakaway Abkhazia and Georgia proper, affecting many businesses in the area. Crossing north-south across the Enguri Bridge is essential to many in [...]
Lasha Talakhadze. TBILISI, DFWatch--“Lasha Talakhadze is the strongest man walking the planet… maybe ever in sports,” exclaimed the commentator after the Georgian giant set three World Records in a single day at the World Weightlifting Championships 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand on Friday. With 220 kg in snatch, 264 kg in clean and jerk and [...]
Ramzan Akhyadov. (Netgazeti.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia extradited an ethnic Chechen to Russia on Thursday, despite strong opposition to the move. Russia accuses 39-year-old Ramzan Akhyadov, who has lived in Georgia for the last two years, of having ties to the terror group ISIS. Minister of Justice Tea Tsulukiani said Friday that Georgia received “written assurances” [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--The Supreme Court in Abkhazia on Friday rejected a lawsuit filed by presidential candidate Alhaz Kvitsinia, seeking to annul the results of the runoff elections and call a new election. Although Kvitsinia's team will appeal the ruling, it is already clear that Kremlin-backed Raul Khajimba, a former KGB operative, has won the election. In the [...]
Opposition candidate Alhaz Kvitsinia. TBILISI, DFWatch--The opposition in Abkhazia is planning a rally in Sokhumi on Tuesday, which will be held in parallel with a court hearing in a lawsuit filed by the opposition candidate Alkhaz Kvitsinia to demand the results of the de facto presidential runoff annulled. Kvitsinia and his supporters argue that [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze. (IPN.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s embattled banker Mamuka Khazaradze is expected to launch a new opposition party on Thursday. The event will take place in Anaklia, a resort on the Black Sea coast and will mark the launch of what has until now been described as a “public movement”, which many expect will become [...]
Raul Khajimba won by 47.4% to 46.2%, according to preliminary results. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tensions are growing in Abkhazia after the runoff in the breakaway republic’s presidential elections, as the opposition refuses to accept the lead by incumbent de facto president Raul Khajimba. There is a high likelihood that the result will ultimately be declared [...]
Member of Parliament Emzar Kvitsiani was seen physically assaulting several protesters after they called him a "Russian slave". (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A brawl broke out at the parliament building in Tbilisi Sunday, after anti-government protesters yelled at a MP that he was a “Russian slave”. Emzar Kvitsiani, an MP representing the far-right Alliance of Patriots [...]
Kelly Degnan. (it.usembassy.gov) President Donald Trump nominates Kelly C. Degnan of California to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Georgia, who currently serves as the Political Advisor to the Commander of United States Naval Forces Europe – United States Naval Forces Africa Ms. Degnan, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of [...]
Mamuka Bakhtadze announced his resignation on Facebook, stating that his mission has been accomplished. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze resigned Monday, stating that mission is accomplished. Announcing his resignation on Facebook, the outgoing PM also confirmed his allegiance to the ruling Georgian Dream party. In the more than 4,000 words long statement, [...]
PM Mamuka Bakhtadze (center) and Minister of Interior Giorgi Gakharia (right). (1tv.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze will be replaced by incumbent Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Gakharia several Georgian media outlets reported Saturday, based on sources within the ruling Georgian Dream party. Some outlets report that Bakhtadze may be replaced by Maia Tskitishvili, [...]
The Georgian checkpoint between the villages of Chorchana and Tsnelisi. (IPN). TBILISI, DFWatch--South Ossetia's ultimatum to Georgia to remove a checkpoint was not fulfilled, but the deadline passed without incident Friday. Another meeting was held within the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in the village of Tsnelisi, and like Thursday’s meeting it ended [...]
Ossetian forces at the administrative boundary line. TBILISI, DFWatch--The situation along the de facto border of South Ossetia further worsened on Thursday after representative of breakaway authorities put forward an ultimatum to Georgia to dismantle a checkpoint at the village Chorchana, in Khashuri municipality. If Georgia doesn't dismantle the checkpoint by 6 am Friday [...]
South Ossetia sent additional forces to "ensure the safety citizens". (Sputnik-Ossetia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The situation along the de facto border of South Ossetia remains tense as Tskhinvali sent armed forces to prevent the construction of a police checkpoint by the Georgian side. The checkpoint is being built in the vicinity of Georgian village Chorchana. “In [...]
(IPN.) TBILISI, DFWatch--There will be a runoff election for de facto president of breakaway Abkhazia on September 8, since none of the candidates received over 50% of votes in the first round on Sunday. Incumbent de facto president Raul Khajimba is in the lead, trailed by Oleg Arshba and Alhaz Kvitsinia, according to preliminary [...]
Patrick Poppel (right), Stefan Keuter (second from right) and Gunnar Lindemann (center) at the concluding conference in Sokhumi. (RFE/RL.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Two politicians from the German far-right AfD were among the foreign observers who were present during Sunday’s election for de facto president of Abkhazia. The election was not recognized by Georgia. Among the dozens [...]
Raul Khajimba casting his vote in Sokhumi (RIA). TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia is holding elections for de facto president on Sunday. Ten candidates are vying for the seat, but none of them stand much of a chance against the incumbent Raul Khajimba, a former KGB operative and close ally of the Kremlin. [...]
Georgia signs a deal with Irish lowcoster Ryanair, which will launch flights to various destinations from Tbilisi and later from Kutaisi airports, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development says. Tickets for a new route between Tbilisi and Milan Bergamo are already on sale on the carrier's website. Flights start on November 6 and will be [...]
(IPN.) The de facto authorities of South Ossetia have released eight Georgian citizens detained on the occupation line. All of them are already in the territory controlled by Georgia’s central authorities. They were handed over to Georgian officials at the abandoned checkpoint in the village of Ergneti, near Tskhinvali on Tuesday. Seven men were [...]
Kibar Khalvashi, Rustavi 2's new owner. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The new owner of Rustavi 2 is not planning to sell his shares. Instead, Kibar Shalvashi plans to develop Georgia's largest opposition TV channel as a "critical and rigorous" outlet. "I consider it my primary duty to put television freed from Saakashvili into public service and [...]
(Davit Katsarava/Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--At least two families in Georgia were forced to leave their homes in a village near the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict line on Thursday. The families left after Russian troops approached them and asked them to vacate their homes within 72 hours. The village of Gugutiantkari belongs to Gori Municipality and is [...]
Mount Tetnuldi seen from Mestia, the capital of Svaneti. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Two women from Belarus have died and one survived with injures in an hiking accident in Svaneti, on the slopes of Mount Tetnuldi, a 4,858m high peak in the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range. The three tourists, aged between 36 and 60, departed from [...]
Nika Gvaramia at Tbilisi City Court. (1tv.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tbilisi City Court has placed Nika Gvaramia under GEL 40,000 bail in a controversial corruption trial that the opposition calls politically motivated. Initially, the Prosecutor’s Office wanted even stricter bail conditions: GEL 80,000 bail and banning the former head of Rustavi 2 from leaving the country. [...]
Russian soldiers in Georgia in 2008. TBILISI, DFWatch--Members and supporters of Georgia's current and previous governments traded accusations on the 11th anniversary of the war between Russia and Georgia. Members of the incumbent government once again blamed the previous government and personally former President Mikheil Saakashvili of irresponsible actions which brought Russian troops on [...]
EU monitor in Georgia. (eeas.europa.eu) On the eve of 11th anniversary of Russo-Georgian War of 2008, the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia issues the statement saying that fundamental human rights of the conflict-affected population continue to be violated and Russia keeps on violating the ceasefire agreement by maintaining and even increasing its [...]
(PrimeTime.) On the eve of 11th anniversary of the 2008 August War between Russia and Georgia, Tbilisi city authorities are considering changing the name of Moscow Avenue. "I confirm that this issue is on the table and included in our agenda," Giorgi Tkemaladze, Chairman of Tbilisi City Council, said on Wednesday. "When the decision [...]
On the anniversary of the August war, the Tskhinvali regime temporarily closes the de facto border. The checkpoint, located near the village of Mosaburni (the so-called "Razdzhani" checkpoint), will close at 8 pm on Tuesday and open at 6 am on Friday, August 9. According to the de facto State Security Committee, which is in charge [...]
The cancerous substance benzo(a)pyrene, commonly found in soot, is present in the Black Sea in levels exceeding its toxicity threshold. TBILISI, DFWatch--The Black Sea contains toxic concentrations of several pollutants, a new study has found. The dangerous substances include soot, pesticides, insecticides, mercury and flame retardants. In addition, 124 chemicals dangerous for the sea [...]
Orthodox priests demanded that the ruins must be protected from 'amoral' behavior. TBILISI, DFWatch--One more electronic music festival in Georgia has been canceled due to threats from clergy, this time in Kobuleti on the Black Sea coast. Organizers of GR Fest wrote on Facebook that the youth festival, which is scheduled to start on [...]
Vyacheslav Volodin in the Russian Duma. (RIA Novosti.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The lower house of Russia's parliament will soon decide whether to recognize the Georgian-Ossetian conflict in the early 20th Century as a genocide. "The State Duma has paid due attention to the statement by the South Ossetian parliament on the recognition of the genocide of [...]
Mauri Murgia runs the "diplomatic representation" out of a flat in Rome. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--South Ossetia’s “ambassador” to Italy says that “the time has come” for recognizing its independence. “We believe that the time has come that Italy through its current government recognizes the republic of South Ossetia as a state equal to all [...]
Levan Vasadze at an anti-LGBT rally in Vere Garden in Tbilisi on June 16. (Facebook.) 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 [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze (left) and Badri Japaridze addressing the media outside Tbilisi City Court. (1tv.ge) 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 [...]
Irakli Okruashvili was detained as he left a TV studio. (1tv.ge) 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 [...]
Eka Beselia. (Interpressnews.) 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. [...]
Enguri Bridge. (DFWatch.) 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 [...]
Backers of Rustavi 2 claim the dispute is aimed at silencing critical opposition media. 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 [...]
Alhaz Kvitsinia. (Facebook.) 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. [...]
From the left to right: Gocha Tevdoradze, Giorgi Lomia and Ada Marshania, Alliance of Patriots MPs at a press conference on Friday. 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 [...]
The anti-government tent town after the raid. (Photo by Tabula.ge.) 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 [...]
Vladimir Putin meets with Tskhinvali's de facto president, Anatoly Bibilov in Moscow, 2017. (RIA Novosti.) 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, [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze said he was urged to act by the events of June 20. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--The founder of Georgia's largest bank has announced his intention to establish a "public movement", a step seen by many as a bid to enter politics. Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of TBC Bank, wrote in a Facebook post [...]
Aleksandre Palavandishvili, one of the spokespersons for socially conservative activists who are trying to prevent Tbilisi Pride. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Organizers of Tbilisi Pride called off the queer rights march after the location was revealed online, but opponents were suspicious and mobilized anyway. The first gay rights march in the Caucasus was originally planned for [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--The first ever Pride march in the Caucasus region is scheduled to take place on Monday in Tbilisi, amid pressure and threats from conservatives. Both the organizers and supporters of Pride on the one hand, and socially conservative groups on the other, have announced full mobilization. Tbilisi Pride first was planned more than two weeks [...]
A police officer puts an electronic bracelet on Nika Melia. (1tv.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Authorities are pursuing criminal charges against several high-profile opposition figures after the June 21-22 uprising in the center of the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Spokespersons for two major opposition parties, United National Movement (UNM) and European Georgia, claim they are being targeted for [...]
(DFWatch.) ZUGDIDI, DFWatch--Most of the school graduates from Abkhazia who were stuck at Enguri bridge on their way to exams eventually managed to get through on Monday, DFWatch was told by several of them. However, some teenagers are still stranded at the only point of crossing between the breakaway republic and Georgia proper. Due [...]
(DFWatch.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A group of teenagers from Gali district are stuck on the breakaway Abkhazia side of Enguri bridge after Sokhumi closed the sole passage in the wake of anti-Russian, anti-government rallies in Tbilisi. The students are trying to get to Georgia proper in order to take part in the Unified National Entrance Exams, [...]
Akaki Bobokhidze pouring water on members of the Russian delegation in the parliament of Georgia on June 20. (RFE/RL) TBILISI, DFWatch--Members of the separatist parliament in Sokhumi are demanding criminal action against Georgian MP Akaki Bobokhidze for an angry outburst during a brawl last week during an inter-parliamentary assembly. Bobokhidze, who represents European Georgia, [...]
Sergey Gavrilov was rushed to Tbilisi airport. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A Russian parliament member was evacuated from the Radisson Blue hotel in Tbilisi after a group of opposition protesters confronted him Thursday evening. Sergey Gavrilov, a member of Russia's Communist Party, and his colleagues were rushed from the hotel to Tbilisi airport, Georgian media reports. [...]
Levan Vasadze warned that vigilante patrols will assemble 'if needed' and prevent Georgia's first Pride parade from going ahead. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--After much deliberation, the organizers of Tbilisi Pride have decided to go ahead with the first Pride parade in Georgia, according to a statement released on Facebook Tuesday. "Despite existing risks, the first [...]
"The United States will continue to urge Georgian authorities to protect all citizens regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity," US Department of State spokesperson has said commenting recent developments in Georgia relating to Tbilisi Pride. The text of short statement was provided by Voice of America's Georgian Service. "The United States is deeply concerned about [...]
Avtandil Mammadov holding poster “Freedom to Afgan Mukhtarli” in Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Av. (Facebook) The police in Georgia detained Azerbaijan’s opposition activist Avtandil Mammadov on the request of Baku on Monday and he may face extradition to his home country. Mammadov was arrested in Marneuli, a town inhabited largely by ethnic Azerbaijanis, 35 km east [...]
Levan Vasadze (center) addressing his supporters at the rally. (IPN) TBILISI, DFWatch--An ultra-conservative Georgian millionaire vows to set up vigilante patrols on the streets of Tbilisi to prevent LGBT rights activists from holding a planned pride march. "We'll establish people's squadrons. [...] Among the crowd gathered here there are a lot of individuals with [...]
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 [...]
(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 report on information from the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA). In the first four months [...]
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 Golunov. "Even though we are not in Russia, but in Georgia, we decided that we can and must do something[...] The [...]
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 de facto parliament with 35 percent of votes after 95 percent of votes had been counted Monday evening. But United Ossetia’s [...]
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 in Munich, which found earlier that samples from the leading opposition contender contained high levels of lead and cadmium. De facto [...]
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 condemnation of what they dub as "clan-based" management of the country's judiciary. "Through a special decree, the Parliament should create a commission to probe the state [...]
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 rally during Tbilisi Pride. The rally is scheduled for the concluding day of Tbilisi Pride, despite continuous threats by radical groups [...]
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 in peaceful assembly”. “It’s the State's obligation to ensure timely and adequate protection [of Tbilisi Pride participants] from possible violence,” the [...]
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 schools to shut its doors from the 2019-2020 school year is located in the village of Akhmaji in the Akhalgori district [...]
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 he would return to Ukraine on Wednesday. “From Kiev I’ll be much closer to Tbilisi [...] Ivanishvili will feel my hot [...]
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) Unity", was convicted of illegally purchasing and storing firearms. He was detained in September, 2018, and police said they found a [...]
(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 the presidential elections to August 26. The de facto parliament earlier decided to hold elections in July, while the opposition had [...]
(Sputnik-Abkhazia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The opposition in Abkhazia rallied in front of the parliament building in Sokhumi Tuesday for the second day, vowing not to stop it until parliament postpones the presidential elections until fall due to the suspected poisoning of their leader. Overnight, opposition activists temporarily blocked the central highway at two locations north and [...]
Sandra Roelofs addressing the post-election rally in Zugdidi. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The ruling Georgian Dream party is leading in all of Sunday’s by-elections, including the symbolically important Zugdidi mayoral race. But the vote was marred by numerous controversies, as the opposition claims the elections have been massively rigged. Sandra Roelofs, the wife of Georgia’s ex-President [...]
UNM's spokesperson Khatia Dekanoidze (center). (1tv.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tensions are running high in Georgia ahead of the May 19 by-election in Zugdidi, a town about 350km west of Tbilisi, with almost daily scuffles outside the office of the Local Election Commission. Both the governing party and the opposition accuse each other of attempting to rig [...]
(Radiotavisupleba.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A satirical bust of Georgia’s interior minister was placed in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi on Sunday, on the anniversary of the controversial police raids of two nightclubs. The statue’s pedestal was equipped with a red button, which if pressed made a voice say: "Let's start with an apology." This [...]
Immortal Regiment is sponsored by Russian President Vladimir Putin. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s counter-intelligence service SUS on Tuesday warned the organizers of a May 9 rally to commemorate Soviet victory in World War 2 that they may not use Communist symbols. Such symbols are prohibited by a law Georgia introduced eight years ago called the Freedom [...]
Nika Gvaramia, CEO of Rustavi 2. TBILISI, DFWatch--The director of Georgia main opposition TV company said Monday that the government has launched a new attack against it, and claimed the goal is to kill its editorial policy. Rustavi 2 director Nika Gvaramia also accused billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili of personal involvement in a new lawsuit [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--The number of visitors from Russia to Georgia has skyrocketed, triggering several kilometer long lines at Zemo Larsi border crossing. Most of the queue is on the Russian side, where at least 600 cars were standing still Saturday, waiting to enter Georgia from North Ossetia - Alania; one of the constituent republics of the Russian [...]
Tatia Lortkipanidze. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgian weightlifter Tatia Lortkipanidze is suing the coach of the national team for sexual harassment. Lortkipanidze, who won a bronze medal in the 2018 European Championship, is also suing the weightlifting federation for discrimination, she said at a press conference on Thursday. At the press conference, she accused the federation of discrimination by [...]
The deleted tweet on President Salome Zourabichvili's Twitter page. TBILISI, DFWatch--The president of Georgia has become a target of criticism after re-tweeting Donald Trump's viral tweet in which he derides his possible opponent in the 2020 presidential elections, former Vice President Joe Biden, calling him "sleepy Joe". President Salome Zurabishvili’s administration had to hold [...]
The Russian bikers at Zemo Larsi border crossing. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A group of Russian bikers were denied entry to Georgia on Sunday, in an incident resembling the 2017 denial of entry of the infamous Night Wolves. The official reason for denying the bikers entry to the country is that they failed to provide information, [...]
Rashid Nurgaliev, deputy chief of Russia's Security Council. (Photo by the administration of de facto president of South Ossetia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Russia has once again accused a medical research facility in the republic of Georgia of launching weaponized bugs into territory under its control. "This is a matter of national security," said deputy chief of [...]
Aslan Bzhania. TBILISI, DFWatch--Suspicions grew Monday that a key opposition figure in Abkhazia has been poisoned, after two of his bodyguards were hospitalized in a serious condition, at least one of them with similar symptoms. Although officially, Aslan Bzhania, the main opponent of the incumbent de facto president, and his two guards are being [...]
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--President Salome Zurabishvili calls on CBS to "make the necessary changes" to clear an "irresponsible mistake" in the synopsis of an upcoming episode of the TV series NCIS: New Orleans in which Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia is referred as a Russian province. In the episode [...]
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 has changed. But the Alliance remains a deterrent against growing Russian threat in Europe. Ani Chkhikvadze, reporter for VOA’s Georgian Service, [...]
(Radio Way.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Up to 40 people were injured in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge Sunday as locals clashed with riot police over a hydropower plant. The confrontation started in the village Birkiani after police units entered the gorge to protect company employees who are working on the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the river [...]
Parliament's bureau voting to name the main session hall after Zviad Gamsakhurdia. (parliament.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia has named the plenary session hall of the parliament building after the country's first president since independence. Parliament’s decision on Tuesday to name the hall after Zviad Gamsakhurdia seems to be the outcome of a rivalry between Georgia's top [...]
(Facebook/Irakli Kupradze.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Three workers were seriously injured on Tuesday in central Tbilisi after falling from a building during construction work on a new luxury complex owned by the billionaire and former Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. The three injured construction workers, who are aged 19 to 21, have all been hospitalized with fractures [...]
'The strongest man in the world', Lasha Talakhadze. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgian Olympic champion Lasha Talakhadze broke three world records at the European Weightlifting Championships in Georgia on Saturday. All three records broken by ‘the strongest man in the world’ were set by himself. The 25-year-old Georgia only needed four lifts to set records on snatch, [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--The breakaway region South Ossetia was left without Internet Tuesday due to damage to a fiber-optic cable. It is so far unknown what caused the damage to the cable connecting the separatist republic to the outside world. The cable belongs to the Russian company Gazprom. Local mobile operator Megafon-Osetia claims the Internet outage is not [...]
Sandro Bregadze (center, with megaphone) at a Georgian March rally in Tbilisi in July, 2017. (Mzia Saganelidze, RFE/RL.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Far-right activists in Georgia are uniting to form a new political party and run in the local and national elections, emulating Marine Le Pen’s Front National. One of the proposals of the new party will [...]
An unidentified prison in Abkhazia. (Ekhokavkaza.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Breakaway authorities in Abkhazia plan to lift its moratorium on capital punishment in 2020 as tougher sentences are brought in against drug crime. The de facto parliament of breakaway Abkhazia has adopted a new law which imposes tougher punishments for selling large quantities of drugs, including life [...]
Gldani prison in Tbilisi. Georgia showed the most significant drop in incarceration rate among Council of Europe member countries between 2008 and 2019. However, it is the second among countries with particularly high incarceration rates just after Russia, according to new statistics released on Tuesday by the CoE on the situation in European prisons [...]
Mikheil Saakashvili was forcefully deported from Ukraine in February, 2018. (Stringer Media.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The success of an opposition candidate in Ukraine's presidential elections has given Georgia's former leader Mikheil Saakashvili new hope of making a comeback in Kiev politics. After losing power in his home country, Saakashvili re-launched his career as politician in Ukraine, [...]
A Hungarian lowcoster Wizzair has increased the list of new destinations from Kutaisi scheduled to become operational by August to eight from the previous six. The new destinations are two Polish cities of Gdansk and Krakow. Earlier in February Wizzair announced it would add new regular flights to Basel, Copenhagen, Brussels, Tallinn, Eindhoven and Bari by [...]
(Pirveli Radio.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tbilisi City Court on Tuesday approved the extradition of UK fugitive Jack Shepherd, whom British media have dubbed ‘the speedboat killer’. At the hearing, Shepherd himself also expressed his consent to be extradited, explaining that it was not an easy decision, but he wants to clear the issue and reunite with [...]
The jury found Malkhaz Kobauri guilty of triple homicide and rape. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A 19-year-old shepherd from Georgia was found guilty on Monday of savagely killing an American couple and their 4 year old son in July, 2018. Apart of homicide of three people, Malkhaz Kobauri was also found guilty of other crimes, including [...]
(Youtube.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Groups of Georgian and Indian youth clashed last Thursday in Mtatsminda Park, one of Tbilisi's main tourist destinations. A video has surfaced showing a fight between groups of young men, with several young women watching. In the video, one of the brawlers, presumably a Georgian, is seen hitting another man violently with [...]
Egor Kochiev. (cominf.org.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Five unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) violated ‘South Ossetian airspace’ simultaneously, entering from Georgia proper, breakaway South Ossetia claims. "One of them hovered over the town of Kvaisa for 20 minutes and then flew towards Georgia," Egor Kochiev, the head of South Ossetian delegation, said on Friday after a meeting of [...]
Russian troops in Abkhazia. (SMD press-office.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The number of Russian troops in breakaway Abkhazia has increased by 30 percent in the last year, Apsnipress reported on Wednesday. The Sokhumi based news agency cited information provided by the Southern Military District of Russia’s armed forces. This is one of five military districts in Russia, [...]
Mikheil Saakashvili. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia's exiled former president Mikheil Saakashvili has asked his political party to find a replacement for him as leader, in order to make it more “flexible”. In a video address publisheed on Facebook, the former president suggested Grigol Vashadze as the best candidate to take over the helm of the [...]
King David IV The Builder. (George Nikladze.) TBILISI, DWatch--Officials in Tbilisi are puzzled by media reports of inscriptions in the Georgian alphabet on the weapons of the terrorist who slaughtered 49 people and wounded dozens more in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on Friday. Photos published by Daily Mail show inscriptions on the [...]
(apsadgil.info) TBILISI, DFWatch--A 29 year-old man has died under suspicious circumstances while in detention by separatist forces in breakaway Abkhazia. The man was detained earlier for trying to cross the administrative borderline between the breakaway republic and Georgia proper. The detainee’s death, which Sokhumi claims was a suicide, happened in a Russian military facility [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--A man from Pankisi valley in Georgia have been killed in Syria. Ruslan Tokhosashvili, 35, was the 33rd Kist militant from Pankisi killed in Syria, local-based radio station, Radioway, reports. Tokhosashvili reportedly left his native village of Birkiani for Syria in 2014 and joined the terror group Islamic State. Birkiani is the home village of [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze, former chair of TBC Bank's supervisory board. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian government's reputation for interfering in business was further strengthened on Monday as the founder of the country's largest bank accused several named officials of trying to force the bank to help in the election campaign. Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of Georgia's [...]
Foreign medical students in Georgia. (Commersant.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Nearly 29,000 foreign students are enrolled at universities and other higher educational institutions in Georgia; most of them come from Turkey, Iraq and India, as well as other Asian countries. The number of foreign students has doubled during the last four years, from 4,812 in 2015 to [...]
Eka Beselia. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s ruling party has lost its constitutional majority after three of its members of parliament left the party on Friday. Ever since the party seized power from Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement in October 2012, Georgian Dream has controlled at least two thirds of seats in the national assembly - [...]
A map of Georgia. (RFE/RL.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia may make it a criminal offense to make maps of the country without the two breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia as constituent parts. Parliament is to review a draft bill that, if passed, will impose criminal sanctions, including up to two years imprisonment, for producing and [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze. TBILISI, DFWatch--The confrontation between Georgia’s biggest private financial institution and the government grew worse on Thursday as the National Bank sanctioned two of the key persons in TBC Bank. The National Bank of Georgia issued a statement on Thursday which orders to suspend the signature rights of Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, [...]
(Cominf.org) TBILISI, DFWatch--Separatist leader Anatoly Bibilov from the breakaway region South Ossetia presented awards to Russian journalists for ‘objectively’ covering the 2008 war. The event in Moscow on Tuesday honored a number of journalists with medals dedicated to "the 10th anniversary of the Victory of South Ossetians in the Patriotic War" in August. Among [...]
Zarina Doguzova. (Rosturizm official website.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A woman originally from the Georgian breakaway territory of South Ossetia was Thursday appointed head of Russia's federal tourism agency Rosturizm, TASS reports. Prior to her new job, Zarina Doguzova, 33, worked at the communications department at the administration of President Vladimir Putin, where she supervised the division [...]
Shopping center at Rukhi. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Traffic resumed Tuesday across the Enguri bridge, the only crossing between the breakaway region Abkhazia and Georgia proper, locals told DFWatch. However, the bureaucratic hurdles bar most of Gali residents from crossing the conflict line. January 11, breakaway authorities declared a quarantine and unilaterally blocked passage on Enguri [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--From August, 2019, several new flight destinations will connect Kutaisi with cities in Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Estonia, Netherlands and Italy. The new flights to Basel, Copenhagen, Brussels, Tallinn, Eindhoven and Bari will be offered by Wizzair, the Hungarian budget airline, operating out of David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport. The new routes will become operational [...]
Eka Beselia expressed hope that the investigation will reveal who are behind the smear campaign. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Police in Georgia detained 16 persons on Friday after compromising videos were spread on social media showing a well-known politician from the ruling Georgian Dream party. The detainees, who include two opposition activists and a popular singer, [...]
Temur Nadaraia. GALI, DFWatch--Sokhumi ponders prohibiting Abkhazians from travelling to Georgia proper for medical treatment and in search of other opportunities, because these developments undermine the breakaway region’s 'statehood'. "Those Abkhazians who go to Georgia and receive Georgian citizenship in exchange for loans or other social benefits are actually betraying their nation. I hope [...]
Screenshot from the interview Jack Shepherd gave to Georgian TV station Rustavi 2, in which he said he was framed by the media. TBILISI, DFWatch--Jack Shepherd, 31, a UK national who was sentenced to six years in jail last July for the unintentional killing of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown, surrendered to police in Tbilisi, Georgia [...]
(apsadgil.info) TBILISI, DFWatch--Due to the closure of the Enguri checkpoint, students from breakaway Abkhazia's Gali district are unable pass their exams, which may result in their expulsion from the university. The problems come on the heel of a quarantine declared in early January by Georgia’s two breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia in order [...]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The only road that connects South Ossetia to Russia was still blocked Monday after being closed for traffic seven days ago due to heavy snowfall and avalanches. Personnal dispatched by Tskhinvali has been trying to clear the road throughout the weekend and even carried out several controled explosions to try to trigger [...]
Four people were killed in the explosion in an apartment block in the Tbilisi district Didi Dighomi. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The police on Friday detained two people in relation to the deadly gas explosion in Tbilisi which claimed the lives of four, including a 4 year old boy, his mother and an aunt. The two [...]
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 have been created specifically to target us. Since the election campaign, up to 20 such pages have been created," Eka Gigauri, head of Transparency International Georgia, [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--Four people were killed and seven people injured when an explosion rocked a block of apartments in uptown Tbilisi Wednesday evening. Among the injured is one child, whose condition is serious, health minister Davit Sergeenko said. The explosion is thought to have been caused by a natural gas leak in a flat in Didi Dighomi, [...]
Razdakhan checkpoint in the Akhalgori district. (DFWatch.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia's two breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on Friday declared a quarantine in order to prevent the spread of the influenza virus H1N1 from Georgia proper. The quarantine will last for two months and not 20 days, as previously reported. In practice, a quarantine [...]
Minister of Health Davit Sergeenko. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--13 people have died from flu in Georgia since the start of this flu season, the country’s health minister said on Thursday. The number of hospitalizations due to influenza diagnosis has increased to 845 from the previous 616. 44 patients are intensive care at different hospitals throughout [...]
GALI, DFWatch--Sokhumi plans to announce a 20 day quarantine and close Enguri checkpoint, the sole passage between Georgia proper and breakaway Abkhazia, locals familiar with the situation told DFWatch. Although breakaway officials claim no instances of H1N1 influenza virus have been reported so far in Abkhazia, DFWatch has witnessed at least dozens of instances of flu [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze, chairman of the supervisory board of TBC Bank, was questioned by the chief prosecutor's office. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor's Office (POG) has launched a criminal investigation of the country’s largest bank for alleged money laundering. The opposition calls the case an attack on unwanted business institutions. On Wednesday, POG summoned and [...]
NCDC director Amiran Gamkrelidze. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--At least 10 people have died in Georgia the last few weeks due to complications after contracting with the flu, health officials have said. The National Center for Disease Control and Public Health cited data showing that the seasonal epidemic is on decline, but there has been a [...]
Razdakhan checkpoint. (DFwatch.) AKHALGORI, DFWatch--South Ossetia has postponed for a month the coming into force of a new regulation which makes it harder for Akhalgori residents to cross the de facto border. On December 26, Tskhinvali adopted a new regulation which makes it much harder to cross the de facto border between Akhalgori and [...]
(Archive photo by DFWatch.) GALI, DFWatch--A record number of people crossed Enguri bridge on New Year's Eve this year - in both directions. The queue spanned almost the entire length of the 1km long bridge which connects territory controlled by Georgia's central government and breakaway Abkhazia. "No one has seen such a thing here. [...]
The bill was proposed by Emzar Kvitsiani, a member of parliament for the Alliance of Patriots who has often appeared at far-right rallies like this one in Tbilisi on July 14. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The parliament in Georgia is to consider a proposal by a far-right group to ban the wearing of burqa and niqab [...]
Leonid Bibilov (left) meeting with Philip Khachirov at his office in Tskhinvali. (presidentruo.com) AKHALGORI, DFWatch--The de facto head of administration in Akhalgori, who is known for his anti-Georgian policies, has resigned, but received praise from de facto president Leonid Bibilov, who pledged to find a new job for him in the government in Tskhinvali. [...]
IPRM meeting at Ergneti. (SUS.) TBILISI, DFWatch--South Ossetia demands the withdrawal of the Georgian anti-occupation civic group from the vicinity of the conflict zone due to 'security considerations'. This demand, which was aired at the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting at the village of Ergneti on Tuesday was rejected by Georgian authorities. [...]
Trade center at Rukhi. (Facebook.) Georgia proposes a new grant program aimed at encouraging trade across the conflict lines within the framework of the peace initiative A Step to a Better Future. […]
Rally by IBSU students and professors outside the Ministry of Education. August 23, 2018. (1tv.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The Georgian regulatory body for quality in education on Saturday revoked a controversial decision to bar a Tbilisi university from accepting new students for a period of one year. Black Sea International University, one of Georgia’s leading higher [...]
The seven pleaded not guilty during the hearing in Tbilisi City Court. (IPN.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Seven jailed members of the Donbass Battalion have gone on hunger strike in Tbilisi, protesting their detention and claiming that the police planted illegal items. The six Ukrainian and one Georgian citizen are charged with illegal possession of firearms and [...]
Semen Semenchenko wearing the Donbas Battalion uniform. Photo dated 2017. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgian police have detained six Ukrainian and one Georgia citizen who are members of the Donbass Battalion, a volunteer detachment of Ukraine’s National Guard. The seven are suspected of 'illegal purchase and possession of firearms, ammunition and explosive devices', the Ministry of [...]
Grigol Vashadze addressing the rally. (IPN) TBILISI, DFWatch--Several thousand people attended a rally in Tbilisi Sunday to support the United Opposition and its demand to dissolve parliament and hold snap parliamentary elections. The opposition repeated its claim that the presidential election was falsified and therefore illegitimate, demanded snap elections and offered the government an [...]
Boys contest in Georgian Chidaoba. (Georgian National Wrestling Federation.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Chidaoba has been added to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The traditional Georgian style of wrestling has bred dozens of Olympic and world champions in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling as well as judo. "The practice is a complex [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--After suffering a crushing defeat in the runoff election for president, the leaders of the UNM-led United Opposition have decided to reject the results and launch protest rallies similar to those in 2003, which culminated in the Rose Revolution. Grigol Vashadze, the UO candidate for president, and Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's exiled ex-president, have called upon [...]
Two exit polls published Wednesday night predicted that Salome Zurabishvili won by at least ten percent. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The results of both the 'pro-government' and the 'pro-opposition' exit polls suggest that Salome Zurabishvili, who is backed by the ruling party, has decisively won Georgia's last direct presidential elections. However, the opposition is not eager [...]
From left to right, ambassadors Jos Douma (Netherlands), Justin McKenzie Smith (UK) and Ross Wilson (US), addressing journalists in Marneuli. (Twitter.) TBILISI, DFWatch--American, British and Dutch ambassadors are visiting southern Georgia today to observe the runoff presidential election in the region which has a long history of manipulation and violence during elections. Ross Wilson, [...]
Salome Zurabishvili at a rugby match between Georgian and Tonga in Tbilisi. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s runoff election for president on Wednesday gained an unexpected drama after the opposition candidate’s strong showing in the first round. One day ahead of the vote, polls indicate a close race. Although the constitution adopted by Georgian parliament in [...]
Nodar Burdiladze at a UNM rally in Tbilisi in 2017. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A regional official in the United Opposition is in a critical condition after being stabbed outside his house, five days ahead of the runoff election for president. Two persons implicated in the murder attempt are 'associated with Georgian Dream', the opposition claims. [...]
A part Georgian school in the village of Sida. (DFWatch.) GALI, DFWatch--Breakaway Abkhazia is fastening its grip on Georgian schools in Gali, local teachers told DFWatch. Sokhumi suspects that the schools in this southern district with a predominantly ethnic Georgian population are violating a relatively recent policy to only allow Russian as the instructional [...]
GALI, DFWatch--The Georgian government has unofficially given Gali residents a green light for smuggling cigarettes, likely as part of the election campaign, according to locals DFWatch spoke to. They have received explicit messages from Georgian law enforcers, they said. "Everybody knows each other here, almost all law enforcement knows who smuggle cigarettes. For the past week, [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--A 30 year old woman and her 9 months old son died in an explosion in an apartment block in Tbilisi Thursday morning, the emergency management service reports. The explosion occurred at around 11am in the eastern Ponichala district and was reportedly caused by a gas leak. Several other people were also injured, including an [...]
(DFWatch.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Russian border forces have begun installing reinforced barbed wire fence through the village Dzukaantkari (Dzukata) near Gori, as part of a gradual demarcation around the breakaway region South Ossetia. The new and ‘more solid’ type of fences are replacing the old fences that were installed in 2009 and run right through the [...]
Salome Zurabishvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--One of the persons reportedly sending presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili and her family members death threats has been identified and the Ministry of Internal Affairs launched a criminal investigation into the case. "The person who threatened Salome Zurabisvhili and her family members is a member of a military unit which [...]
Salome Zurabishvili called on police to respond to several death threats against herself and her son and daughter. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Salome Zurabishvili, the presidential candidate supported by Georgia Dream, calls on the police to respond after reportedly receiving deaths threats from ex-soldiers with links to the opposition National Movement. The threats were also directed [...]
(DFWatch.) GALI, DFWatch--None of the political parties in Georgia’s presidential election campaigned in the conflict zone, according to locals DFWatch spoke to in Gali, the southern district of breakaway Abkhazia. This is unlike previous elections, when the ruling party had local campaign workers out among the population promising various benefits, a resident of the [...]
(DFWatch.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tskhinvali has resumed installation of barbed wire fence along the administrative borderline between Georgia proper and the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. The de facto security committee plans to install one km long fence in the vicinity of the villages of Balta and Atotsi in the Kareli district. The reason for the [...]
(DFWatch.) GALI, DFWatch--Abkhazia has temporarily suspended the issuing of residence permits, an essential document needed by Gali residents in order to travel to Georgia proper. Breakaway authorities in Gali claim the reason is a technical problem with a printing machine, locals DFWatch spoke to explained. They were told that the printer had run out [...]
Grigol Vashadze at a meeting with supporters in Tskaltubo. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The opposition candidate in Georgia’s run-off election for president pledges to eliminate the 'political police' if he wins. Grigol Vashadze from the National Movement also promised to release everyone from prison who is serving time for use or possession of soft drugs and [...]
(presidentruo.org) TBILISI, DFWatch--South Ossetia on Saturday celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of Komsomol, the infamous political youth organization during the Soviet Union. Central in the celebrations were various events with participation by school pupils dressed in pioneer uniforms including the classic red scarves. Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization was the children’s political [...]
Grigol Vashadze in Akhalkalaki hospital. (Sknews.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Four opposition activists were hospitalized Tuesday after supporters of the ruling GD party burst into a local branch office of the UNM in the predominantly ethnic Armenian town Akhalkalaki. Among the attackers were the brother of a member of parliament for GD, UNM claims. One of the [...]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Exit poll after Georgia's presidential election on Sunday show dramatically different results and all sides are bracing for a long and fierce standoff to ‘defend votes'. The situation is tense in Tbilisi and the opposition is even talking about launching a wave of protest rallies if the government 'rigs the results'. Three [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--On Sunday, Georgians go to the polls for the last time to elect a president. Even though the role of the president in recent years is largely ceremonial, the contest has turned into a fierce political showdown. Although the powers of the president have been gradually reduced since the split between Bidzina Ivanishvili, the leader [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--Authorities in the breakaway region South Ossetia have increased the fines for 'illegal crossing of the state border' by two and a half times; from 2,000 (USD 30) to 5,000 Russian rubles (USD 75). This change in the size of fines is one of the reasons for why it took longer time than usual for [...]
