Monday, March 23, 2026

Saakashvili supporters prevent Ivanishvili from addressing crowd

Supporters of the ruling party prevented Bidzina Ivanishvili from addressing locals in the village Beshumi in southwest Georgia. (IPN.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – Activists for the governing party Saturday prevented President Saakashvili’s main opponent, Bidzina Ivanishvili, from meeting with the population in a small mountain village in the Adjara region, in the southwest of Georgia.

Journalists are reporting

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Must-carry law goes into force in Georgia

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Maestro and Channel 9 don't trust the existing cable networks, which have kept them off for years, and instead try distributing satellite receivers to the population, but the satellite dishes have been confiscated by authorities. (Photo: Mari Nikuradze.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – Saturday morning the deadline passed for when cable companies in Georgia will have to transmit three small government-critical TV channels which for years have been unable to reach a broader audience, because cable networks have kept them off.

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Georgian Olympic athlete let down due to opposition sympathies

Betkil Shukvani (left) lost a judo match and says the Georgian Olympic team didn't back him up after an unfair decision by the referee. He says all athletes are divided in pro-government and pro-opposition camps now. Georgian Dream spokesperson Maia Panjikidze to his right. (IPN.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – A Georgian athlete says he might have been subject to political harassment at the London Olympics.

July 28, the Georgian sportsman Betkil Shukvani lost against an Australian in a judo match and then unexpectedly left the Olympics

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Polling institute's bank accounts seized

Teona Akubardia, chair of GDRI's council, says she went to the bank and discovered that she couldn't carry out any transactions. (IPN.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – By decision of Tbilisi City Court the bank accounts of Georgian Development Research Institutes (GDRI) were seized. The leadership of the organization doesn’t know the reason, but suspect that it is because of a donation from Bidzina Ivanishvili.

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