DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, DFWatch–President Mikheil Saakashvili plans to open an education center for viticulture, wine-making and vine care in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region, where he owns a house and vineyards.
Speaking in front of journalists at his palace in Tbilisi Wednesday,
TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian Church, the Patriarchate, has suspended a priest who recently claimed that the Prosecutor’s Office pressured him to give testimony against former Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia.
Mikael Botkoveli, head of the press office at
TBILISI, DFWatch–Former prisoners and people on probation crowded outside President Mikheil Saakashvili’s palace in Tbilisi after he offered to pardon them and clear their criminal record.
The president said August 19 that people who are probationers or have
TBILISI, DFWatch–A Georgian man is in hospital in a serious condition after being beaten while in detention awaiting his extradition to his home country.
The man, Davit Chkhitunidze, was detained at Athens airport on August 14 as he was preparing to fly to Turkey,
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia is in 55th place of 178 countries on the Failed States Index for 2013. This is a slight improvement position compared to previous years.
On top of the list are Somalia, Congo, Sudan and South Sudan. The least failed countries are Finland,
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s interagency commission for free and fair elections on Monday held its first session. It was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice.
The commission was created ahead of last year’s parliamentary election to prevent
TBILISI, DFWatch–Several persons have already expressed interest in buying Georgia’s Channel 9, which yesterday stopped functioning.
The TV station’s director Luba Eliashvili said to employees gathered outside its office building that several persons already have
TBILISI, DFWatch–A majority of Tbilisi City Council has voted for expanding the city budget by 17 million lari (USD 10.2 million) to 740 million lari (USD 445 million) — a four percent increase.
Mayor Gigi Ugulava from the former ruling National Movement party
TBILISI, DFWatch–TV9, a channel affiliated with Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, went off air on Monday. It had earelier announced that it would close on September 1.
The news program at 21:00 was its final broadcast, with News Director Luba Eliashvili saying goodbye
TBILISI, DFWatch–Several families have been forced from their homes in Ozurgeti, in Georgia’s western Guria region, due to a landslide.
Valerian Chitashvili, governor of Guria, told journalists that two days of heavy rains in the region accelerated the landslides