TBILISI, DFWatch – Gradually the ground rules for next year’s election are being laid as parliament has begun a new round of discussion about election reform. It comes earlier than expected, because recommendations from the Council of Europe (CoE) came sooner than the December 17 deadline, in the form of a working draft published on … Read more
Human Rights Day is celebrated on December 10. In order to mark the celebration, I would like to offer the public a brief overview of human rights problems revealed throughout the year in Georgia. The human rights protection of which was the most problematic in Georgia during 2011: Right to a fair trial – the … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity today resigned as part of a deal with the opposition which also allows its leader to run in the breakaway republic’s rescheduled election in March. Eduard Kokoity, the de facto president of Georgia’s breakaway republic South Ossetia, today announced his resignation . Acting president will be the … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – The pressure group Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) warns that a new, narrower definition of what it means to be a refugee could expose people to danger. GYLA is appealing to parliament regarding a new bill initiated by the government which makes changes to the law about Internally Displaced Persons – Refugees, … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Demonstrations are continuing on Tskhinvali’s main square, as the negotiations are stalled. Yesterday evening, a Russian news agency reported that one official was stabbed with a knife during a meeting on the square. The injured, defense employee Soslan Gabuev, received a wound to his chest and was taken to the hospital. The … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgians are discussing how to read the first polls done after a popular businessman decided to join politics. The polls differ drastically, which has lead many to distrust the results. According to one of them, 26.1% of the Georgian population want the newcomer Bidzina Ivanishvili as Prime Minister from 2013. 24.2% of … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Six cars and a bus were shot at in Tskhinvali last night, according to the news agency Pirveli. The cars were on the capital’s central square, where supporters of presidential candidate Alla Dzhioyeva have been holding out since November 30 to claim victory in the election, which was annulled the previous day. … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – A court case which could decide the future of Georgia has been postponed due to a judge’s illness. Georgian billionaire and opposition politician Bidzina Ivanishvili was told Thursday that his and his wife’s appeal about their revoked citizenship has been postponed until December 12, because the judge is ill. The final ruling in … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – Vice speaker of parliament in Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia says the current president Eduard Kokoity must resign and the region should be headed by the so-called Prime Minister Vadim Brovtsev. “As the term of president Kokoity has expired, he can no longer perform his duties as president. He should resign, and … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – The prison ministry in Georgia says about a prisoner with kidney problems who was beaten before and after his operation, that ‘the patient’s health condition is satisfactory’. In a rare exception, the ministry Wednesday publicly made comments to a case about suspected prisoner abuse. The statement was their first comment about the … Read more