Tuesday, December 9, 2025

News

Georgia's Public Defender says representatives are threatened by Soviet-style inmate leaders

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TBILISI, DFWatch–Penitentiary authorities in Georgia have unleashed “prisoners managed by the administration” to systematically carry out “verbal attacks, threats and aggression” against representatives of the Public Defender’s Office, Ombudswoman Nino Lomjaria said on Wednesday. The PDO earlier released a report claiming the management model of semi-open prisons was based on an informal hierarchy of prisoners, … Read more

Georgia to lift some Covid-19 restrictions after drop in number of infections

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TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia plans to gradually lift Covid-19 related restrictions as the most recent statistics show a reduction both in new cases and the number of deaths, the country’s chief epidemiologist Amiran Gamkrelidze said on Monday.  This process will be accompanied by an increase in the total number of tests and the start of vaccinations in … Read more

Novosibirsk Opera terminates contract with wife of former leader of Georgian opposition party UNM

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TBILISI, DFWatch–A Russian theater in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, which was supposed to be headed by the wife of a prominent Georgian opposition politician, has terminated its contract with her. Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater said the decision was provoked by the fact that former Bolshoi prima ballerina Nino Ananiashvili made a premature public … Read more

Georgia shuts down again due to Covid-19, brings back nightly curfew

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TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia on Sunday re-introduced strict Covid-19 restrictions that will last until January 15. The rationale behind the measures adopted by the government in November was to reduce people’s mobility amid a worrying rise in the number of cases, which were well above 4,000 new cases a day during that month and continued growing. After … Read more

Georgia's ruling party softens stance on two controversial bills severely limiting oppposition parties

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TBILISI, DFWatch–Facing growing criticism from the West, Georgian Dream seems to soften its strict stance towards the opposition. Although parliament on Wednesday adopted a bill at the first reading that strips all opposition parties of their state funding, GD said it would send the controversial bill for review either to the Venice Commission, a Council … Read more

Volunteer teacher bringing hope to university entrants remotely from locked down Gali

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GALI, DFWatch–Classes have been suspended in public schools in Abkhazia as in the rest of Georgia because of the pandemic, and also here in Gali, local teachers try their best to assist students with distance learning.  Despite many difficulties, including the interruption of electricity supply, local teachers are still more or less able to continue … Read more

Georgian Dream starts crackdown on opposition after talks to stop boycott fail

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TBILISI, DFWatch–After talks between Georgian Dream and the opposition failed to defuse the political crisis, the ruling party in Georgia has started to weigh in with threats of revoking registration for the largest opposition party and stripping others of state funding. On Thursday, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Georgian Dream executive secretary, said that a bill against … Read more

Gali residents struggling to get by under Covid-19 travel restrictions

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GALI, DFWatch–Under conditions that amount to a blockade, the population of Gali are finding ways of sorting out their daily life problems, such as how to receive pensions when they can’t get to a Georgian bank. In spring, Abkhazia’s separatist authorities closed the only road connecting the Gali district with the rest of Georgia, due … Read more