Tuesday, December 23, 2025

South Ossetia to go to the polls again

Voters in breakaway South Ossetia will tomorrow cast their votes for the fourth time in five months to select a new leader. Photo shows voting in the first round of the second election March 25 2012. (RES.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – The de facto republic South Ossetia tomorrow holds the second round of its second presidential elections.

The first election was held in November 2011. The Kremlin favorite and an opposition leader got through to the second round, in which the

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Ombudsman calls for reduced number of prisoners

Ombudsman Giorgi Tugushi raises the alarm about the situation in Georgia's prison system in his latest report to parliament. (Official photo.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Public Defender in Georgia believes the time has come to reduce the number of prisoners in the country.

The ombudsperson said this at a joint session of parliamentary committees to discuss his report about the human rights situation last year.

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Groups call for end to xenophobic slurs

Commentator Zviad Koridze says political rhetoric that makes use of ethnic differences is destructive and can result in very serious civic destabilisation.

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian non-governmental organizations call on Georgian politicians to stop making xenophobic statements and ask the media not to spread such comments.

“The authors of such statements probably try to play on ethnic and religious feelings

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Georgia wants election observers to come immediately

Keti Tsikhelashvili from Liberal Academy-Tbilisi says the government is responding to a demand from more than fifty local groups. (Photo: Mari Nikuradze.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s Foreign Ministry today invited international organizations to send a long-term observation mission ‘immediately’ ahead of the parliamentary elections in October.

Normally, long-term observers would arrive about six weeks before the election,

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Georgia to no longer allow Russian observation flights

A Bear, or Tupolev Tu-95, (right), the iconic Russian bomber and surveillance plane during the Cold War.

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia will no longer let Russia conduct observation flights over its territory, and has suspended its obligations under a post-Cold War treaty which provide countries with mutual openness in each other’s military activities.

The Georgian Foreign

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