DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, September 24 – Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS) says it has busted a multimillion-lari fraud scheme tied to a major infrastructure project, arresting five people and charging another who remains on the run. According to the agency, the case involves fraudulent appropriation of 4,184,249 lari (around USD 1.5 million) belonging to the Ministry of … Read more
TBILISI, September 24 – One of Georgia’s oldest and most trusted legal watchdogs says it won’t monitor this year’s local elections, marking the first time in its 31-year history it has refused to do so. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) announced Wednesday it will not dispatch observers to monitor the October 4 municipal elections, … Read more
TBILISI, September 24 – Tbilisi City Court was evacuated today, following a bomb threat. According to local reports, the evacuation took place about an hour before security services arrived. Members of the court’s security service, known as the ‘Mandaturi,’ ordered everyone out and suspended all hearings. The State Security Service’s counter-terrorism department was later seen … Read more
TBILISI, September 24 – k Sea undersea cable that would connect the South Caucasus to the European Union. The memorandum of understanding was signed by Davit Narmania, chairman of Georgia’s “Semek,” or National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC), and George Niculescu, president of Romania’s energy regulator. According to GNERC, the agreement focuses on … Read more
TBILISI, September 24 – The high-profile trial over the killing of Georgian businessman Levan Jangveladze and the attempted murder of his driver, Gia Chaduneli, took another turn Tuesday as defense lawyers challenged the reliability of evidence presented in court. At the hearing in Tbilisi, an expert witness who had reviewed security camera footage from the … Read more
TBILISI, September 24 – Two people were killed and three injured in a drone strike on the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, the governor of Krasnodar region said Monday. Governor Veniamin Kondratyev announced on social media that drones targeted the city center near the Novorossiysk Hotel. He said five residential buildings, including apartment … Read more
TBILISI, September 24 – A local community leader and opposition politician was killed in Armenia late Sunday night, according to the country’s Interior Ministry. Volodya Grigoryan, head of the Parakar community near Yerevan and a representative of the opposition party Country for Life, was shot dead in his own home. Media reports say a friend … Read more
TBILISI, September 24 – Lawyers for Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the political council of Georgia’s opposition United National Movement (UNM), are doubling down on claims that his arrest is politically motivated. Khabeishvili was detained earlier this month by Georgia’s State Security Service and charged with publicly promising money to officials in exchange for political support. … Read more
TBILISI, September 24 – An explosion rocked a residential area in Tbilisi’s Lotkini district, injuring one person, Georgian officials confirmed on Monday. The blast, which residents said shook nearby buildings, is believed to have been caused by a gas leak. Photos from the scene quickly spread on social media, showing damaged structures and emergency crews … Read more
Giorgi Antadze, defense and security researcher at the Tbilisi think tank GeoCase, says Georgia’s October 4 local elections cannot be treated as routine. In an interview with Interpressnews, he described the elections as intimately linked to the political upheaval that has gripped the country for two years. “Impossible to call this just another municipal election,” … Read more