TBILISI, DFWatch – Lawyers working for Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili claim there are 44 days left for the President and the Civil Registry to decide whether to give him back his Georgian citizenship. They also say France will only revoke his French citizenship after the businessman’s has had restored his Georgian citizenship. The businessman’s citizenship … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili is moving yet another state body closer to Europe — at least a few dozen kilometers. This time it’s the Ministry for Internally Displaced Persons which will be moved from Tbilisi to the town of Gori, which lies close to the occupied territories and just a few kilometers … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Ekaterine Khvedelidze, wife of the Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili is going to set up a new political party and compete in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Khvedelidze said this today as she appealed for a judge to immediately enforce a court ruling which restores her Georgian citizenship. In October, her husband unexpectedly broke … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Newspapers and TV not affiliated with the government in Georgia have been swept up in a major effort by authorities to restrict an opposition financier’s influence. Civil rights groups warned in late 2011 that this could happen, and now it has. Georgia’s new party finance law is being applied far outside of … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – British conservative politician Liam Fox calls the administrative border around the Tskhinvali region ‘the occupation line between Free Georgia and Occupied Georgia.’ The MP for North Somerset and former Secretary of State for Defense was visiting the border border area when he made the comment January 9. During his stay in Georgia, Fox … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Nodar has been working in Georgia’s mountainous Bakuriani region for three years with his team of construction workers. But the company which employs him, Nola, has only paid him 2 000 lari out of the 16 000 he is entitled to. “So many today are in the same situation as me,” he … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – National TV channels in Georgia are scrutinizing the links between political challenger Bidzina Ivanishvili and an opposition-friendly cable channel in Tbilisi. Imedi, Rustavi 2 and GPB, the three national TV stations in Georgia, claim to have uncovered links between Ivanishvili and other parts of Georgian media. One target of the allegations is … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili is starting to build an entirely new city from scratch, but there is no city plan yet. Contruction work is set to start within the year, but no map or street plan is yet in existence for architects and engineers to use. The president’s administration has told the … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s crisis-stricken free media have agreed on a new plan to react against outside interference in their work. The plan comes after a cable channel had to escape to a different studio and newspapers in Tbilisi have seen many newspaper kiosks torn down, threatening their distribution. Former producer at Maestro TV Mamuka … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Fifteen Georgian sailors taken hostage by Somali pirates have been set free after 508 days of captivity. According to Georgia’s Marine Transport Agency, no ransom was paid. But pirates who spoke to the news service SomaliaReport.com said a three million dollar ransom was dropped onto the ship Sunday morning. Right now, the … Read more