Sarah Delys is a criminologist working for Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre in Tbilisi. On 7 October, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) unanimously ruled in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the case of Begheluri and Others v. Georgia. The 99 Georgians, all but one of whom are Jehovah’s Witnesses, alleged that they were victims of large-scale […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A lecturer was shot dead by her former husband at Ilia State University (ISU) in Tbilisi on Friday. The murderer committed suicide on the spot. Maka Tsivtsivadze was holding an English lecture, when she was visited by her former husband. He called […]
Data Akhalaia now plans to apply for political asylum in Greece. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A court in Greece has refused to extradite a former Georgian official who is charged with involvement in the murder of a bank employee and several other crimes, including abuse of power. Data Akhalaia is seen as a close ally of ex-President Mikheil […]
Speaker of Parliament Davit Usupashvili admires Ivanishvili’s philanthropism. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The speaker of the Georgian parliament went on the offensive Thursday against former President Mikheil Saakashvili and in defense of the billionaire who brought together the current government coalition, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Speaker of Parliament […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The police on Thursday arrested two youngsters for suspicion of vandalizing a church just during a religious holiday. The detainees are two teens of 17 and 15 years old. The latter has a prior conviction. While searching the homes of the suspects, […]
Zurab Abashidze. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s envoy for talks with Russia says he will meet his Russian counterpart in Prague on Thursday, despite criticism from his coalition fellow party members. But Zurab Abashidze says he will inevitably touch a very contentious issue during […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s new immigration law has created a lot of problems for foreigners who already live, study or work in the country. People DF Watch spoke to say their applications are being rejected for unclear reasons. They also question why it is required to file […]
Deputy Interior Minister Levan Izoria. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian law enforcers are investigating alleged plans by the former ruling party, the National Movement, to destabilize the country and overthrow its government, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Levan Izoria told opposition-leaning TV channel Rustavi 2. […]
Tedo Japaridze. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A proposed new comprehensive agreement between Russia and Abkhazia has triggered a quarrel between two veterans of the Georgian diplomacy who both belong to the ruling Georgian Dream coalition. The text of the draft proposes ‘a common space […]
Photo published on the kidnap victim Ioseb Giorkhelidze’s Facebook page. TBILISI, DFWatch–The police on Monday arrested four persons for alleged kidnapping, two of whom are former members of special forces units in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). MIA states that the four kidnapped a 19 year old man, Ioseb Giorkhelidze. Two members […]
The Roki tunnel, one of the roads through Caucasus that is virtually not operational due to the political situation. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia views with caution the construction by Russia of yet another trans-Caucasus road, while the opposition sees a direct threat for a country whose territory’s 18 percent is occupied by its northern neighbor. In North Caucasus, authorities […]
The mosque in Duisi, Pankisi Gorge. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–One more Georgian jihadist from Pankisi Gorge has been killed in Syria fighting alongside the Islamic State. 22 year old Guram Gumashvili is the seventh rebel fighter from Pankisi to be killed in the Syrian war, according to the Kakheti […]
The house where Jehovah’s Witnesses meet in Ozurgeti was attacked January 1, 2014. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The European Court of Human Rights last week found that Georgia has violated the human rights of the Jehovah’s Witnesses community in the country. The violations the court looked at date 14 years back in time, but the group is still being attacked […]
A new investigation of Zhvania’s death was one of the promises made by the Georgian Dream coalition in the 2012 election campaign. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The investigation into the death of the Georgian prime minister Zurab Zhvania in 2005 will soon enter its final stage, according to the brother of the deceased. Goga Zhvania said Friday that it’s still unclear whether the investigators […]
(Interpressnews.) “Inga, can I stay with you for a week? Something terrible happened.” This is a message I got from a close friend earlier this week. Apparently, she went out with her friends and did not hear her brother calling. Then, in the middle of the night, her brother and her […]
President Giorgi Margvelashvili has pardoned 463 prisoners so far this year. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Wednesday was probably the happiest day in the lives of 88 prisoners in Georgia, as they were allowed to walk free following a presidential pardon. Another 27 got their sentences reduced by half or one third. The decree by President Giorgi […]
The earthquake caused debris to fall down in the Mindeli coal mine in Tkibuli, injuring one miner. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A 3.7 magnitude earthquake rattled the south central slopes of the Caucasus mountains Wednesday. The earthquake occurred at 4:36 pm Tbilisi time and had its epicenter near the mining town Tkibuli, in western Georgia. According to Tamaz Dolaberidze, […]
Few girls finish secondary school in Sagarejo, because they get married at a young age. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–When a young man was murdered last weekend in Kazlar, an Azeri village 40km east of Tbilisi, it could have been one among many stories of violence and homicides in rural Georgia, but the circumstances of this case makes it stand out. 21 year […]
Locals say there isn’t any physical barrier marking the disputed border near Kvemo Ikorta. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Russian border guards on Tuesday detained a husband and wife in a village bordering breakaway South Ossetia. The two, Kakha Kazishvili and Zina Natriashvili, were detained in the village Kvemo Ikorta as they were trying to cross the ‘border’ to visit relatives. […]
Zviad Jankarashvili. (Photo published on Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A relative of the Georgian prime minister has been appointed as executive secretary of the Georgian Dream Party, the largest member of the government coalition by the same name. It was a unanimous decision by the political council of the Georgian […]
Bidzina Ivanishvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Former Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili says he wants to host a weekly talk show. This comes after Ivanishvili many times has criticized Georgian media for bias and lack of professionalism. The new talk show is one of two projects presented […]
The police officer suspected of fatally shooting a young man in Kutaisi on Friday has been charged with murder. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The police officer who shot to death a young man in Kutaisi has been charged with purposeful murder and exceeding his power using a firearm and faces up to 15 years in jail. The police officer pleaded not guilty. His lawyer told journalists […]
Irakli Garibashvili made the comment while inspecting the grape harvesting in Kakheti. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian government may change a new controversial law on immigration that has caused a wave of confusion and irritation in the country’s expat community. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said this during a visit to the eastern Kakheti region […]
21 year old Mirza Gochuadze died after being shot by police during a car chase in Kutaisi Friday. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A police officer who shot to death a 21 year old man in Kutaisi on Friday has been arrested. The Ministry on Internal Affairs has not released the name of the officer, who is suspected of exceeding his power. Details about the shooting are sketchy, […]
Locals in Kobuleti have set up barricades and keep guard 24/7 to prevent Muslims from entering a planned madrasa. (DF Watch.) KOBULETI, DFWatch–In the past couple of years, Muslims in Georgia have experienced more and more animosity directed toward them. In 2012, Muslims were opposed when they tried to open a mosque in Nigvziani; in 2013 villagers in Samtatskharo were not allowed to perform […]
21-year old Mirza Gochuadze died after being shot by police in a car chase. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A 21 year old man was shot by police during a car chase Friday in Kutaisi. The man later died from his injuries. The police shooting sent shockwaves through the local community in this Georgia’s second largest city, where people remember how police […]
Six Georgian students will be able to go to the UK to complete their Master’s degrees this year with Chevening scholarships. (Photo published by the UK embassy on Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch–In 2014-2014, six Georgian students will continue their Masters degrees at British universities with support from the Chevening program. The scholarships are mainly given for studies within economy and politics. The UK government […]
Only the main checkpoint on the Enguri river will be operational. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The newly elected de facto president of the breakaway region Abkhazia wants to close five out of a total of six ’official’ checkpoints that divide Abkhazia from Georgia proper. According to Russian news agency Ria Novosti, Abkhazia’s new president, […]
Youth activists who want Saakashvili back in power clashed with his opponents Thursday. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Opponents and supporters of former President Saakashvili clashed again in Tbilisi on Thursday, two days after their first showdown. The two rival political youth groups stood against each other on Pekini Street, cursing opponents and throwing bottles, […]
Zurab Kitsmarishvili believes that his brother was murdered. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Investigators haven’t found any evidence that Georgia’s former ambassador to Russia and founder of Rustavi 2 TV company was murdered. “On the basis of testimonies by hundreds of witnesses, appropriate documents, videotapes, evidence […]
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been subject to a wave of violent attacks in Georgia. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–In the last few years, Georgia has had a surge in discrimination against religious minorities. A new report reveals that also a silent, invisible day-to-day form of discrimination is prevalent within government institutions and among public servants. […]
The mosque in Duisi, Pankisi Gorge. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A man from Pankisi Gorge stabbed his sister in the chest with a knife for refusing to wear a hijab. The brother, 35, inflicted 7 wounds on his 33 year old sister, a former police officer. Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge is located in the northeast […]
Outgoing head of Georgia’s Supreme Court, Kote Kublashvili was a key player in the controversial justice reforms. TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian president on Tuesday presented parliament with his two candidates to take over as head of Supreme Court. This was the second time President Giorgi Margvelashvili presented Nino Bakakuri and Zurab Dzlierishvili as candidates to take over […]
Journalist Zaza Davitaia threatened retaliation after being injured in the clash. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Two groups of politically motivated youth clashed on Tuesday, inflicting injuries on each other. The conflict started after activists from the pro-National Movement youth group Tavisupali Zona (Free Zone) severely beat a journalist from a conservative […]
The death of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania (pictured) in February 2005 is still troubling Georgians. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The body of a former Georgian prime minister may be exhumed in order to determine the cause of death. Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, one of the architects of the rose revolution, died in 2005, officially of gas poisoning due to a faulty heater. […]
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili. (TRT.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili appeared on the Turkish TV Monday, explaining his country’s policy toward two breakaway regions that have been controlled by Russia since the war in 2008. Georgian territorial integrity will be restored, […]
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili (left) and Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev in Istanbul on Monday. (Photo published on Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch–President Giorgi Margvelashvili says the free trade treaty Georgia signed with the EU earlier this year opens opportunities also for other countries to reach the EU market. He said this while discussing bilateral relations with Kyrgyzstan […]
A magnitude four storm battered the Batumi beach Monday. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Heavy rain hit Georgia’s southwestern parts on Monday, but so far without causing the amount of damage which was feared after meteorologists issued a dire forecast the day before. Last night, there was strong wind and a constant downpour […]
Vladimer Papava is Professor of Tbilisi State University. Ukraine has garnered the world’s attention as a country facing a myriad of complex challenges, among which economic problems play a significant role. The corruption-stricken government of Ukraine is reminiscent of Georgia in the beginning of the 21st century, […]
Levan Chachua is on trial for negligence while performing the autopsy on Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania in 2006. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The pathologist who conducted the autopsy on the body of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania denies that he harassed a witness. The trial about the prime minister’s death in 2006 continued Thursday with questioning of the pathologist Levan Chachua. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–The Turkish Ministry of Education has adopted a plan to teach Georgian in the schools, according to a Facebook post by the Georgian embassy in Turkey. In its post, the embassy writes that if there are 10 or more students at a given school who want […]
Muslim Shishani, from Pankisi Gorge in Georgia. TBILISI, DFWatch–An 18 year old Georgian has died in the Syrian civil war. He is the sixth fighter to die in the war who is a native of Pankisi Gorge. Pankisi Gorge in the northeast of Georgia was used as a jihadist base during both Chechen wars, and this was where […]
Georgia joins the UN Arms Trade Treaty. (police.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch–On Friday, Georgia will join a new treaty which restricts the international trade in small arms. The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on April 2, 2013, and is a first of its kind. It will regulate the sale […]
Unusually high water levels caused damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure in the southwest of Georgia Wednesday. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A storm of strength five hit western Georgia early in the morning on September 24 and caused damage to infrastructure, floods and landslides in the Adjara and Guria regions. In Guria, a river flooded a school in Shemokmedi, students and staff were evacuated by the […]
US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (left) and Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian government denies that it has offered the US to host a training facility for Syrian rebels fighting both the Assad government and the ISIS, against whom the US and some of its allies wage a military operation. Foreign Policy […]
Former Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili is one of the defendants in the trial. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A verdict in one Georgia’s most controversial murder cases is expected two weeks from now, with a former interior minister as one of the defendants. The defense made its closing remarks in Tbilisi City Court Wednesday in the trial about the murder […]
Dimitri Khundadze, head of the healthcare committee in the Georgian parliament. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The head of the healthcare committee in the Georgian parliament wants tougher punishment for illegal abortions. In 2012, there were about forty thousand registered legal abortions in Georgia. But committee head Dimitri Khundadze stressed that […]
Temur Janashia (left) and his lawyer Beka Basilaia. (Rustavi 2.) TBILISI, DFWatch–After slapping an asset freeze on former President Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office got court approval to do the same with the property of his almost inseparable head of security, Temur Janashia. Sitting next to his attorney […]
Contestants in the 2011 Miss Georgia competition. (Interpressnews.) It is always challenging to be a foreigner. But being a foreign woman in the Caucasus is even harder. “You will see that in Georgia women are treated like queens, like princesses”. This was one of the first sentences I heard when a Georgian man picked me up at […]
Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania died in 2005, apparently from gas poisoning. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The trial into the circumstances surrounding the death of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania in 2005 continued in Tbilisi on Monday. The investigation into Zhvania’s death was reopened after the change of government in 2012. During today’s hearing […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A storm Sunday night left about 7,000 households without electricity in Batumi, a city on the Black Sea coast. According to local media, a further 1,800 families are without electricity in Khelvachauri municipality. There has been heavy rain in Batumi […]
Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Prosecutor’s Office in Georgia has seized the bank accounts of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, his attorney wrote in a Facebook update on Sunday. This comes only days after the a ruling in the Appeals Court which confirmed the seizure […]
President Giorgi Margvelashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has said he may dissolve parliament or step down if this is needed to avert a political crisis. After months of simmering conflict between him and the government, both part of the same coalition, there was […]
(Graphic published by the National Bank of Georgia.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s National Bank noted a one percent increase in money transfers into the country in August 2014, compared to the same period last year. The amount of money transferred from abroad in August was 225.1 million lari (130.1 million USD); 0.9 percent […]
The High Council of Justice is the highest authority in Georgia’s legal system, not the Supreme Court. TBILISI, DFWatch–A new cohort of judge candidates are taking qualification exams September 20 and 27, under the auspices of the High Council of Justice. The exams are held at the Technical University’s first building and for the first time conducted electronically. […]
Locals in Svaneti blocked a road earlier this year in protest against the plans. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Opponents of the Khudoni hydropower project met in Mestia on Thursday to sound the final alarm before a massive dam floods parts of the unique Svaneti region, threatening an age-old cultural landscape. The Svaneti region is a rare landscape […]
Tbilisi City Court. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Appeals Court in Georgia Friday upheld a decision to seize the property of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, along with the property of his spouse, sons, parents and grandmother. To most Georgians, it has been unknown until today that there even was […]
President Giorgi Margvelashvili during the swearing-in ceremony in November 2013. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s president has rejected suggestions that he is planning to set up his own political party, despite an apparent widening split between him and the government coalition. Speculations of a possible new opposition party seeing the light of day […]
Medea Vasadze, member of the Adjara regional council. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–There was further infighting in Georgia’s government coalition on Thursday as a member of the council in the Adjara region accused a local finance official of corruption. The accusation was put forth as the official, Davit Baladze, September 18 briefed […]
(DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s foreign trade turnover in the first eight months of 2014 was 12 percent more than in the same period last year. Preliminary data from Georgia’s National Statistics Department, GeoStat, published on Tuesday show that the total amount […]
Art students protested two weeks ago. (Imedi.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Students protested on Tuesday against the level of education at Tbilisi State University. Some of the students left the hall whistling after meeting the rector and the administration of the department for social and political studies. They say that every time such […]
President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The conflict between the Georgian president and the government soured even more on Wednesday after the TV company Rustavi 2 exposed private correspondence between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the president’s administration. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–A fire destroyed the ‘gypsy market’ in Tbilisi on Tuesday. Vendors claim the fire was started deliberately. About 2500 square meters was burned. Vendors say they think the fire was started in order to get rid of them and build […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian parliament has begun discussing a draft bill which will require all public employees to pass a language test to prove that they know either the Georgian or Abkhazian language. The latter is also an official language in Georgia, […]
Mestia is one of the most important tourist destinations in Georgia. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A group of German tourists were robbed in Mestia Monday night, several Georgian news outlets reported. The reports differ on important details, but most say three German tourists were robbed along the road from Zugdidi to Mestia, one of […]
Mayor of Tbilisi Davit Narmania. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Tbilisi mayor says the city must tighten its belt, because the National Movement, which ruled the city for a decade, left ‘the worst budget ever’. Newly elected Mayor Davit Narmania from the Georgian Dream Coalition said on Tuesday that […]
Giorgi Sigua. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The former head of Georgia’s National Tourism Administration has said that the Georgian Orthodox Church demanded that he cancel a music festival shortly before he was sacked. Giorgi Sigua was one of those who helped organize the festival, but was […]
From left to right: Zaur Khalilov, executive director of Civic Integration Fund, theologian Beka Mindiashvili, and lawyer Giorgi Gotsiridze. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A few days ago, in a town on Georgia’s Black Sea coast, local Orthodox Christians hung a pig’s head on the entrance to a Muslim madrasa school which was to be opened in few days, insulting the religious feelings of Muslims. What are the reasons […]
Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, is visiting Georgia September 13-16. The Vatican’s Section for Relations with States corresponds to the foreign ministry of civil governments. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–A Turkish public official who is visiting Georgia says he hopes there will be built new mosques in Batumi and Akhaltsikhe. Mehmet Görmez,President of the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey, arrived on Friday on his first visit to Georgia […]
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuch Hagel. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The United States is strengthening its military cooperation with Georgia and several non NATO-member states on the background of events in Ukraine. US is a strategic partner of Georgia and supports its North-Atlantic integration, US Secretary […]
(TV-25.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Patriarchate of Georgia claims that a boarding school for Muslim kids was built against the will of a majority of the local population in Kobuleti, a small town on Black Sea coast. For the last few days, locals have tried to oppose the opening of the […]
KaZantip is planned held in Georgia also in 2015. TBILISI, DFWatch–Organizers of KaZantip are determined to hold the electronic music festival in Georgia next year too, despite low visitor numbers last month. But the condition is that the government allows the festival site in Anaklia to be used. KaZantip was held […]
President Giorgi Margvelashvili says there was ‘very serious organized work’ against his planned visit to the US. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili has canceled a planned trip to New York to attend the UN climate change summit, after weeks of squabbling with the government about who should represent the country. The decision comes after the businessman […]
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili (left) and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. TBILISI, DFWatch–Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili met Thursday with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to discuss strategic cooperation and bilateral relations. The meeting took place at the president’s palace, and Gharibashvili was accompanied by members […]
Bidzina Ivanishvili. (Palitra TV.) TBILISI, DFWatch–In a rare interview, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has criticized President Giorgi Margvelashvili for harming the country’s image. Ivanishvili left politics after the presidential election in October, 2013. He said in an interview […]
(TV-25) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into an incident in a small town about a pig head being placed on the door of a Muslim religious school called a madrasa. The incident happened in Kobuleti as locals were protesting against […]
Locals in Kobuleti demonstrated against a planned madrasa on Monday. (TV-25.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Locals in the small Georgian town Kobuleti on the Black Sea coast are protesting against the construction of a madrasa, a religious educational facility for Muslims. As a sign of protest people killed a pig and placed its head at the entrance […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The amount of direct foreign investments in Georgia in the second quarter of 2014 was USD 151 million; significantly lower than in the same period last year. This is down 27% compared to in the second quarter of 2013, when there was USD 208 million […]
Irakli Lomidze (left), head of Asylum Department at the Refugee Ministry. Dimitry Pirbar, head of the Religious Council of Yazidis in Georgia. (Click to activate video.) (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–More than 50 Yazidis have fled from Iraq to Georgia and applied for political asylum here. DF Watch September 3 organized a discussion about the situation. Dimitry Pirbar, head of the Religious Council of Yazidis in Georgia, said he had been to Iraq […]
There has been strong resistance to Trans-Elektrica’s plans for a hydro power dam in Khudoni. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The building of a controversial hydropower dam in a mountainous region of Georgia may be further postponed, if the company behind it fails to submit the required documents in time. The planned Khudoni hydropower project is located […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Over a year after a wave of complaints about frequent police searches in the streets, new reports are coming in of the same problem. People are being stopped and searched by the police in the streets. During one such raid, a reporter for media.ge […]
The body of Arsen Beridze was brought home to Georgia from Ukraine Monday. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch–The body of a Georgian who died a few days ago in a bomb explosion in Ukraine’s Donetsk region arrived in Georgia on Monday. Arsen Beridze, 23, from Adjara region, had been living in Ukraine with his family for the past 12 years. He was killed when […]
President Giorgi Margvelashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–President Giorgi Margvelashvili will attend the UN Climate Summit 2014 despite the express wishes of Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili. The president has said many times that he will go to the US and his plan about the visit hasn’t changed. […]
President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The government wants to strip the president of the power to set terms for student scholarships and studies abroad. A new draft law about higher education will if passed let the it be up to the government to confirm the use of student advantages, […]
From left to right: Mariam Gogosashvili, student at GIPA, Temo Kakhidze, student at University of Patriarchate and Elene Beriashvili, student at Tbilisi State University. (Click to watch video.) (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–On September 6, DF Watch organized a discussion about the difficulties youth are having finding employment. We invited students from three different universities to share their views on youth unemployment. They agree that there are problems, […]
Students at the Academy of Art in Tbilisi are opposed to new rules for electing a rector. (Imedi TV.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Students demonstrated Friday outside the Culture Ministry against a decision to only allow professors at accredited universities to become rector of the Academy of Art. The decree was signed by Culture Minister Mikheil Giorgadze on September 1. […]
Heads of state of NATO and partner countries at the Wales summit. TBILISI, DFWatch–A 113 point declaration passed by leaders of NATO countries at the summit in Wales has two points about Georgia. Apart from support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a commitment that it will become a member of NATO someday […]
A four-year old boy was tortured with an iron in a village in western Georgia Wednesday. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The torture of a 4-year old boy in a village in western Georgia has shocked Georgians and made many question official statistics indicating a significant decrease in crime. Two days ago, Ketevan Arveladze was at home alone with her 4-year old when […]
Eight people have so far been killed this year in landslides in Dariali Valley. (Police.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Geologists in Georgia say heavy rainfall would cause another landslide in Dariali Valley, where eight people have already been killed this year in two natural disasters. Six people were killed in a landslide in Dariali Valley May 17, and two more […]
From left to right: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Giorgi Margvelashvili, David Cameron. (Official photo.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said in a speech at the NATO summit in Wales that the events in Georgia in 2008 and in Ukraine in 2014 demonstrate that stability and peaceful development of young democracies is a significant challenge […]
(Photo published by the Ministry of Defense.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A Georgian platoon is taking part in the annual exercise Rapid Trident in Ukraine September 13-27. The multinational exercise will be conducted at the training ground Yavoriv, nearby the western Ukrainian city Lviv, and include participants […]
President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili (left) and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. (Photo published by NATO.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian president on Thursday met with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in preparation for the NATO summit in Wales. The two talked about the importance of the summit on the background of the Ukraine crisis and the significance […]
Export of Georgian wine continues to increase. TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia increased its wine export by 69 percent in the first eight months of 2014, compared to last year. According to the the National Wine Agency, the country exported 36,585,769 bottles (0.75 liters) of wine in the period. The agency on Wednesday […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian parliament on Wednesday asked the international community to use every kind of means to stop the military actions and aggression in Ukraine, to deescalate the situation and handle humanitarian concerns. This is the third […]
Georgia had less visitors this August. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–772,216 people visited Georgia in August, which is 0.5 percent less than in August 2013. The new statistics published by the Interior Ministry shows that 3,685,834 people visited Georgia in the first eight months of 2014. This is a 3 percent drop […]
Tbilisi, DFWatch – Against the backdrop of tragic events going on in Ukraine, Georgian delegation left optimistic to Wales to take part in the NATO Summit on Sept. 4-5, while NATO states that it expects establishing new defense capacity building mission in Georgia. Although […]
Maia Panjikidze. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze on Tuesday offered her Ukrainian colleague to bring children to Georgia for vacation and rehabilitation course. Panjikidze made the offer during a phone conversation with Pavlo Klimkin. She said that the […]
Francis Fukuyama is professor of political science at Stanford University. Many Georgians are discussing how far Mr Putin will go in his attempt to subdue his neighbor Ukraine. Maybe he will take this important seaport of Mariupol and go to Odessa or even Kiev? What’s your opinion about the outcome of this conflict? I don’t really have a prediction about this […]
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–NATO is ramping up its defense of Eastern Europe with a new expeditionary force that will be able to “travel light but strike hard if needed”. Also planned are five new bases in the Baltic states, Poland and Romania, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The head of the police department and his deputy at one of the regions in Georgia on Sunday beat investigator Roman Korshia. He required medical assistance. The participants in the incidents are not commenting. An investigation was launched […]
Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–53,067 foreigners were granted Georgian citizenship from 2005 to 2013, and in 2013 the president granted citizenship to most of them – 9,626 people. According to the report of Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), the […]
Deputy Foreign Minister Davit Zalkaliani. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A free trade agreement between Georgia and the European Union came into force today, September 1. This means that Georgian product may be exported to Europe without customs fee. Free trade was part of an association agreement Georgia signed with […]
Health Minister Davit Sergeenko. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Children and injured people will be brought from Ukraine to Georgia for treatment, and Georgia will offer humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili said on Saturday. “We are also thinking of bringing children, injured, […]
Agit Mirzoev, head of House of Yazidis in Georgia. TBILISI, DFWatch–Kurdish Yazidis who fled from Iraq are seeking asylum in Georgia. Agit Mirzoev, the head of House of Yazidis in Georgia, told DF Watch that about 50 Yazidis have come to Georgia and asked the government for asylum. He said another group is expected […]
Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Former President Mikheil Saakashvili on Saturday appeared at Sarpi checkpoint’s Turkish side, on the border between Georgia and Turkey and met with members and supporters of his National Movement party. After his appearance was reported, the Prosecutor’s Office started […]
(Photo published by Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The road through Dariali Valley in Georgia is reopened for traffic with some restrictions, ten days after it was hit by a landslide. The road itself, and Larsi border crossing, will be opened from 07:00 to 18:00 without restrictions, but the rest of the time, […]
Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Prosecutor’s Office in Georgia is preparing to ask Interpol to issue a red alert for ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili and declare him internationally wanted. In mid-August, Georgia announced a domestic search for Saakashvili, which means that […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–People demonstrated in front of the old parliament building in Tbilisi Friday in support of Ukraine and against Russian aggression. Demonstrators called on the international community to make more efforts to help Ukraine in the ongoing crisis. […]
(DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s estimated real GDP growth in July 2014 was 7.2 percent more than in the same period last year, according to preliminary results from Georgia’s Statistics Department, GeoStat. Estimated GDP growth in the second quarter of 2014 was 5.1 […]
(DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Four employees of Azerbaijan’s customs service have been fired following the seizure in Georgia of 2.8 tons of liquid heroin in July. According to the Azerbaijani newspaper Eni Musavat, the four fired employees were working at the custom’s check-point […]
Grand Mufti of Caucasus, Haji Allahshükür Hummat Pashazade. (Photo published by trend.az.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Grand Mufti of Caucasus, Haji Allahshükür Hummat Pashazade, arrived this morning for a two day visit to Georgia. Pashazade, who is based in Baku, Azerbaijan, was greeted at the airport by Georgian Patriarch Ilia II, who hosted him at the main […]
(Photo published by sknews.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Three men were killed Thursday night near Adigeni in southern Georgia. The suspect is a local public registry official. A brother of one of the three murder victims was also injured. The killing took place in the village Karatubani, where there was […]
Avtandil Chrikashvili won gold in men’s half middleweight in the World Judo Championship. (Photo published by the Georgian Judo Federation.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s Avtandil Chrikashvili, 23, won a gold medal in the 2014 World Judo Championship on Thursday in Chelyabinsk, Russia. Chrikashvili won six fights and in the end defeated Antoine Valois-Fortier from Canada in the men’s half middleweight […]
Defense Minister Irakli Alasania is the most popular politician, if we are to believe the American NDI’s newest survey. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The government coalition and its leading figures have lost popularity, according to a new poll by National Democratic Institute (NDI). 42 percent of the questioned say the Georgian Dream coalition is closer to them, while 11 percent say they feel […]
The camp in Vartsikhe brought together children of different religious background. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A ten-day summer camp was organized in mid-August for about one hundred Georgian Muslim and Christian children. The camp is aimed at making friends, train and educate, as well as breaking down prejudices about religion. Giorgi Jaiani, 15, came […]
Georgia’s basketball team is qualified for the European championship next year, after winning against Portugal. TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s basketball team won 71-59 against Portugal on Wednesday and is qualified for FIBA 2015. The Georgian team is now on top of Group E with four wins and two losses, followed by Czech Republic, Hungary and Portugal. Georgia’s […]
Health Minister Davit Sergeenko. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Health Minister Davit Sergeenko started his visit to Ukraine by making several agreements about offering assistance to Ukraine as result of the crisis there. A bilateral working group is being created to coordinate the assistance. Sergeenko Wednesday […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia is ending visa free rules for citizens of 24 countries from September 1. But people from 94 countries can still visit the country without a visa. However, those who are allowed to stay in Georgia without a visa, may now only stay for 90 days, […]
(Photo published by Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A second person has been found dead on Wednesday, after the massive landslide in Dariali Valley on August 21. Two people died in the disaster, one was a citizen of Turkey and one a Georgian citizen. Both were working in a tunnel when a landslide hit […]
Health Minister Davit Sergeenko. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian health minister Davit Sergeenko will go to Ukraine on Wednesday in order to learn what kind of assistance Ukraine needs and how Georgia can help. After a government session on Tuesday, he said that Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili […]
Russian soldiers in the 2008 war. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–42 percent of Georgians think Russia is a real and existing threat to Georgia, according to a new survey. The survey by National Democratic Institute (NDI) shows that 36 percent think Russia is a threat to Georgia, but an exaggerated one. 15 percent […]
KaZantip visitors are making the most of it, but some are disappointed. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The long-awaited music festival KaZantip turned out a disappointment for some visitors and the head organizer. The electronic music festival, which has been held for the last decade in Crimea, was moved to Georgia’s Black Sea coast after Russia’s […]
Oleg Melnikov may soon leave jail as a result of a plea deal. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A court in Tbilisi has offered one of the suspects in the Girgvliani murder a plea bargain, after he pleaded guilty more than a week ago. Oleg Melnikov, former Interior Ministry official, recently admitted guilt in the murder of Sandro Girgvliani in 2006. […]
Bishop Iakob called on people not to vote for the National Movement. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Jobs, poverty and territorial integrity are the most important national issues, as Georgians see it. 3 percent of those questioned in a new survey say that the number of jobs in Georgia increased after the parliamentary election in 2012. […]
One of the injured in the anti-gay rally on May 17, 2013. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–63 percent of Georgians think it is important to protect the rights of minorities, but they don’t want such protection extended to sexual minorities. National Democratic Institute (NDI) on Monday published the results of its newest survey of public […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–On Sunday, there was held de facto presidential election in the Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia. Preliminary results show that Raul Khajimba won with 50.57 percent of the votes, according to Batal Tabaghua, head of the region’s election […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Russian soldiers last week detained three Georgian citizens at a village bordering with the breakaway region South Ossetia. According to Channel 1, Russians detained a father and son, Avtandil and Shota Atskarunashvili, and later also Ilia […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s national basketball team won 79-59 against Hungary on Sunday, in a qualification match for the 2015 FIBA EuroBasket. The Georgian team was only losing for one quarter of Sunday’s match. Tornike Shengelia played best among the teammates […]
Kenneth S. Yalowitz, former U.S. Ambassador to Georgia. DFWatch: What’s your prediction, how will the situation around Ukraine evolve? Kenneth Yalowitz: What worries me is that you have a situation where the Ukrainian side is doing better militarily in Eastern Ukraine and we don’t know how the Russians are going […]
Maia Miminoshvili, head of the National Exam Center. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–More than 26,000 candidates have been accepted as students this year, according to the head of Georgia’s National Exam Center. Maia Miminoshvili told journalists that about 35,500 entrants took their test exams this year, but 9,000 failed to pass. […]
(Photo published by Free Zone, a youth group which supports the National Movement.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The National Movement demonstrated outside the Ukrainian embassy in Tbilisi on Saturday, to mark the 25 year anniversary of Freedom Chain, an anti-Soviet protest, and to express solidarity with Ukraine. Demonstrators called on the government […]
Raul Khajimba. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–August 24, there will be held presidential election in the breakaway region Abkhazia. Four candidates are standing in the election, all of whom have general’s rank. Raul Khajimba, the key figure in the toppling of former de facto president […]
The pipeline supplies Armenia with Russian natural gas and runs through Georgia. (Photo published by Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Gas began flowing again Saturday in a pipeline that runs through a Georgian mountain valley which was hit by a landslide on August 21. The pipeline through Dariali Valley brings Russian natural gas to Armenia. According to Georgia’s Gas Transport […]
Locals in Khaishi blocked the road Friday in protest against fines imposed on people who cut trees for firewood. (TV3.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Locals demonstrated Friday in a Georgian village because of strict rules about the cutting of trees for fire wood. People in Khaishi, in the northern part of Georgia, blocked the Zugdidi-Mestia highway because of sanctions introduced […]
Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili is joining the Ice Bucket Challenge. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian celebrities, including politicians and journalists, are joining the international charity movement Ice Bucket Challenge, which aims gathering donations to support treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. ALS is a disease […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Two prisoners clashed at Prison No 6 in Gardabani on Friday. The fight took place at 01:00 at night. Relatives and family were gathered at the prison, and some of them told journalists that law enforcement entered the prison, but the Prison Ministry […]
After two catastrophic landslides in three months, the government has decided to place a weather monitoring station in Dariali. (Photo published by Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.) TBILISI, DFWatch–There is a danger that more snow may come loose from Devdorak glacier and trigger another landslide in Dariali Valley, Georgia’s Environment Ministry warns. Experts working for the National Agency of Environment have visually surveyed […]
(Photo published by Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.) TBILISI, DFWatch–One person has been found dead after the landslide catastrophe in Georgia on Thursday. The body was found on the bank of the river Tergi near the village Larsi on the Russian side of the border. According to head of Kazbegi municipality Givi […]
Davit Bakradze, former Speaker of Parliament. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office wants to study the income of Davit Bakradze, former Speaker of Parliament and MP for the National Movement. The office said in a statement on Wednesday that information reported by the media about Bakradze indicates […]
Thursday’s landslide in Dariali Valley caused more material damage than the one on May 17, 2014. (Photo published by Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Three months after a landslide disaster in a Georgian valley near the Russian border, another landslide struck Thursday, severing the only road across the Caucasus mountain range and cutting gas supply to Armenia. Two people are missing. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–Two members of the European Parliament on Wednesday called on member states to accelerate the ratification of the association agreements signed with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in June. Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine signed association agreements […]
Conservatives protested outside the old parliament building in Tbilisi. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Conservative groups continued protesting against KaZantip Wednesday as the music festival opened at 9 pm in the evening. Those opposed to the festival are radical Orthodox Christians and small opposition parties. On Wednesday one such group held a protest […]
Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili will visit Armenia on August 21-22. After meeting his Armenian colleague, Gharibashvili and the rest of the Georgian delegation will meet with Armenian government representatives. Prime Minister Hovik […]
Police took action as clothes belonging to former President Saakashvili were delivered at the government office. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Tuesday returned clothes to the government in Georgia, after being charged with inappropriate spending while in office. A few days ago, the Prosecutor’s Office charged Saakashvili with […]
Defense ministers from three countries: Georgia’s Irakli Alasania, Azerbaijan’s Zakir Hasanov and Turkey’s İsmet Yılmaz. (Photo by Georgia’s Defense Ministry.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The defense ministers of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan met Tuesday in the Azerbaijani enclave Nakhchivan, a landlocked region on the border between Armenia and Iran. This is the first time defense ministers from the three countries hold a trilateral […]
Tariel Nakaidze, one of the founders of the Union of Georgian Muslims. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Years have passed without a solution to the need for a new mosque in Batumi. The governments keep promising Muslims that they will make a decision, but according to Muslims, both the central and the local government are attempting to delay […]
President Giorgi Margvelashvili with Georgian soldiers in Afghanistan in March, 2014. (Photo by Defense Ministry.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The government in Georgia wants to limit the power of the president as commander in chief. The draft bill will take away the president’s power to approve the regulation of the Joint Staff, and the head of the Joint Staff will become subordinate […]
Kakha Targamadze was Georgian interior minister in the late 1990s. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–President Giorgi Margvelashvili has rejected former Interior Minister Kakha Targamadze’s application for Georgian citizenship. The decision follows a call by the National Movement to not approve the application by the controversial […]
(DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s foreign trade turnover in January-July 2014 was USD 6,480 million. This is 14 percent more than in same period last year. Preliminary data published by the Statistics Department on Monday show that import in the first seven months […]
Defense Minister Irakli Alasania (left) and Patriarch Ilia II (center), signing the memorandum. (Photo by the Defense Ministry.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s Ministry of Defense on Sunday signed a memorandum with the country’s Orthodox Church. The agreement was signed at Trinity (Sameba) Cathedral by Defense Minister Irakli Alasania and Patriarch Ilia II and is about ‘spiritual, […]
Georgian Health Minister Davit Sergeenko. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian health minister warns people against staying too long out in the sun as temperatures many places in Georgia will surpass 40 degrees Celsius (104 F), according to the national environmental agency. Health Minister Davit Sergeenko […]
Georgia won 90-91 against Portugal Sunday. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s national basketball team Sunday evening won against Portugal in a qualification match for FIBA EuroBasket 2015 played at Arena Dolce Vita in Ovar. Georgia won 90-91, which was quite surprising as the team was losing the game almost before the fourth […]
Georgia’s Defense Minister Irakli Alasania. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The defense ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will meet in Azerbaijan on Monday. Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania said Sunday this is the first formal meeting between the three ministers and has been planned for a long time. […]
Mikheil Saakashvili, former Georgian president. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s Prosecutor’s Office on Saturday published more details about what ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili spent money for that was meant to be used for the security force SSPS. Saakashvili is charged with embezzlement of more than eight […]
The ambulance at the hospital in Kharagauli. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Ambulances in Georgia will begin responding to calls from patients according to the severity of their cases instead of who called first, according to the Health Ministry. In many cases, especially in villages and regions outside of population centers, […]
German film director Stefan Tolz. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–“Full Speed Westward” (Vollgas gen Westen) – this is the title of a new movie by German film director Stefan Tolz. The movie opened in Georgia a few months ago and was well received. It is a documentary about Georgian reality, which shows […]
Mikheil Saakashvili, former Georgian president. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili again denies the new corruption charge about embezzling eight million lari from the security force SSPS. Prosecutors say instead of using the money on the SSPS, Saakashvili spent it on vacations, presents, […]
KaZantip is planned held in Anaklia, a beach resort in Georgia near the border with Abkhazia. (Palitra.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The manager of KaZantip has offered to meet priests and conservative activists to discuss the music festival, claiming that they are misinformed. Orthodox activists demonstrated near the festival site Thursday using biblical slogans warning […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia has issued a domestic search order for ex-President Mikheil Saakahsvili. Georgia’s Prosecutor’s Office prepared the order and has forwarded it to the Interior Ministry. This means that if Saakashvili enters the country, […]
Orthodox activists are against the music festival KaZantip. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian conservatives continue trying to stop the music festival KaZantip from going ahead in Georgia and Thursday organized another rally, this time attempting to enter the festival compound. Orthodox clerics and followers a few days ago […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–There were 1,703 fires in Georgia in the first half of 2014. 38 people died and 61 were injured, according to the Interior Ministry. In 1,005 of the cases, the reason for the fire could not be determined. In 333 cases, the cause was negligence, […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–In an extremely controversial move, Georgia’s Ministry of Health is tightening the regulation of prescription drugs. Seen as a step away of the former government’s deregulation stance, the initiative by the Ministry of Labor, Health […]
Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili denies new charges that he spent money meant for the special protection service on his own lavish life style. Prosecutors in Georgia charged him Wednesday with having spent 8.8 million lari (USD […]
Yazidis in Tbilisi demonstrated against the brutal attacks on their people by ISIS in Iraq. (Photo: Georgian Union of Kurdish Youth.) TBILISI, DFWatch–‘Stop ISIS’ was the slogan of a rally organized by the Yazidi community in Tbilisi as a show of solidarity with their besieged countrymen in Iraq, who suffer from ruthless savagery by the terrorists from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). […]
USD 4,600 spent on two tailor made suits is one of the expenses former President Saakashvili must answer for. (Photo published by the president.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Prosecutors in Georgia have brought further charges against former President Mikheil Saakashvili about embezzlement of public money. The case describes embezzlement of about 8.8 million lari (USD 5.2 million) meant to be used for the protection […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–180 people died in traffic accidents in Georgia in the first half of 2014, according to new figures from the Interior Ministry. The figures published Tuesday show that an upward turn in road accidents has stopped, but numbers remain high compared […]
Mudwater soiled a hundred houses in Kvishkheti, near Khashuri. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A hundred houses were flooded in a small Georgian village Tuesday night. Due to heavy and long rain, villages were flooded in an area near Khashuri in the central parts of Georgia. The flood hit hardest in Kvishkheti, which […]
The restored bust of Stalin before it was taken down. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A bust of Stalin was Tuesday dismantled in a small village in Georgia, less than a day after it was put up. It is still unknown who placed the monument in Akura, in the eastern part of the country, but the same bust has been erected several times in two […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia is to join an international humanitarian effort in Luhansk, Ukraine. This became known on Tuesday. Last week, Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze said Georgia is not planning to join the international sanctions EU and the United […]
The Stalin bust in Akura, Georgia. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A bust of Joseph Stalin was re-erected in a Georgian village Monday night. It is unknown who put it there. The reemerged bust is located in Akura, a village in Eastern Georgia. After the change of government in Georgia in late 2012, busts and […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–There was a quarrel outside Tbilisi City Hall on Monday between people who wanted to meet the mayor and tell him about their problems. Newly elected Mayor Davit Narmania decided to set aside one day to meet with citizens. Hundreds of people turned […]
Former Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Appeals Court in Georgia upheld the City Court’s guilty verdict against former Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili for the May 26, 2011, violent dispersal of anti-government protesters. Tbilisi City Court in February sentenced Merabishvili […]
Oleg Melnikov said Saakashvili and higher officials decided to cover up the murder. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A former government official in Georgia has pleaded guilty in the murder of bank employee Sandro Girgvliani in 2006. The 28-year old Girgvliani was brutally murdered after a scuffle at a cafe in Tbilisi, during a birthday party for an Interior Ministry […]
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili accuses the Prosecutor’s Office of publishing a document which was classified as top secret, but the office denied this. August 8, Margvelashvili expressed concern about the publishing of […]
Residents of Ninigori demand running water. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Locals demonstrated in an eastern Georgian village on Monday, demanding to get running water installed. People living in the village Ninigori in the Lagodekhi region claim they have been without running water for more than 20 years. During all this time, […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A police employee was Sunday detained in Batumi, a city on Georgia’s Black Sea coast, accused of receiving a bribe two days prior. According to the Interior Ministry’s press department, the general inspection detained an employee of the patrol […]
Tedo Japaridze is Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Parliament of Georgia. There is indeed a civilizational cleavage between “Europe” and the South Caucasus. To encapsulate this cleavage in a single metaphor, one could say it is the difference between youth and age: the European sense of time seems youthful, with the certainty that […]
Georgia won 73-62 against Czech Republic in Tbilisi on Sunday. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s basketball team won 73-62 against the Czech Republic on Sunday in a qualification match for FIBA EuroBasket 2015. There was a scuffle during the match. On one of the tribunes, Georgian fans started a quarrel. It didn’t last long, […]
Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s foreign minister is criticized by opponents for saying that the economic sanctions against Russia will not solve the Ukraine crisis. The minister says she was misinterpreted. Maia Panjikidze on Thursday said that sanctions against Russia […]
The presidential palace lies on a hill overlooking Tbilisi. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili last year thought the presidential palace was too luxurious for him to use, but now he defends his decision to make it his place of work. In the presidential election campaign in October, 2013, Margvelashvili […]
Georgian PM Gharibashvili called Sweden’s foreign minister a part of Saakashvili’s friends club. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A war of words developed between Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Georgian PM Irakli Gharibashvili on Friday as the two spoke on the phone. In the conversation, Gharibashvili called Bildt, as well as Lithuanian FM Linas Linkevicius, members […]
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia President Giorgi Margvelashvili has rebuffed a parliamentarian in his own coalition for criticizing a tweet by Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. The controversy started when Bildt criticized the criminal charges against former President Mikheil […]
Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili was given a horse by Patriarch Ilia II. (Photo published on the PM’s Facebook page.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian Patriarch Ilia II on Tuesday gave Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili a white horse. The event took place at the end of a visit by the PM to the Patriarch’s hometown Sno in Kazbegi, northern Georgia. The two visited Larsi checkpoint, […]
Photo: Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze (left) and Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili during an ambassadorial in Tbilisi on August 6 (PM’s Press Office). Tbilisi, DFWatch – Georgia’s Foreign Minister says that western sanctions against Russia and reciprocal moves by the Kremlin are not proper way out of the Ukrainian crisis and that conflict should be solved rather by the negotiations. Maia Panjikidze, […]
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s foreign minister says Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt is putting to perssure on the courts in Georgia by a statement criticizing the investigation of former officials. Foreign Minsiter Maia Panjikidze said this on Wednesday […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–There was an accident on Wednesday in Rize, Turkey, which left ten passengers injured, including citizens of Georgia. Representatives of the Health Ministry of Adjara left for Turkey to see citizens of Georgia. According to Deputy Health […]
Tako Kakabadze (left) and Temo Kakhidze. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–DF Watch last week organized a discussion about education and the problem of self-realization among youth. The discussion included representatives of the youth wings of political parties. Tako Kakabadze, chair of the youth wing […]
Outgoing NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen writes that Russia has stirred up conflicts in Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia. In an opinion piece published in Financial Times, Rasmussen writes that after the collapse of communism, NATO has made […]
The accident happened when a worker’s shoulder touched an uninsulated cable. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A mine worker died from electrical shock Tuesday night in Chiatura, a manganese mining town in western Georgia. Engineer Zaliko Tkemaladze was trying to repair a damaged locomotive at night in the Shukruti mine when the accident happened. […]
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili on Monday criticized non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for not being objective. He said during a meeting with students that it is important for democracy to have a strong, objective and unbiased civil […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Appeals Court in Georgia left in force a decision by Tbilisi City Court to place ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili and former officials in pre-trial detention in a case concerning the violent dispersal of an anti-government demonstration on November 7, 2007. […]
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Prosecutor’s Office in Georgia has brought further charges against ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili and other former officials in a case concerning an attack on a former parliamentarian. Prosecutors say Saakashvili and former Interior […]
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian parliament last week approved an amendment which will bring in stricter rules for the use of secret surveillance by the state. According to the changes, the state may use secret surveillance in cases when it is a necessary, appropriate […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–A number of human rights organizations in Georgia have united under the name ‘No to Phobia’ and want the government to show a tougher attitude to what happened during a football match between Georgian and Azerbaijani teams a few days ago. […]
Tbilisi international airport. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–From September 1, Georgia introduces new rules for foreigners who wish to stay for shorter or longer periods of time. The new rules are about visa and residency permit, and about procedures for expelling illegal immigrants. The government recently […]
Sarah Delys is a criminologist working for Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre in Tbilisi. Earlier this summer the UN Human Rights Committee published its concluding observations on Georgia’s fourth periodic report. The report praises the Government of Georgia on a number of positive steps, both at the legislative and the institutional level. Nevertheless, […]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian government has begun preparing for a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, even though the exact date of her visit is still unknown. Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze on Sunday met with the German ambassador […]
Four thousand people in Velistsikhe in the eastern Kakheti region have to drive their household water from several kilometers away. TBILISI, DFWatch–People demonstrated on Sunday in a Georgian village where 4,000 people have been without running water for two months. Locals in Velistsikhe near Gurjaani claim the head of municipality Gia Gergidze is doing nothing to solve the water problem. […]
Surb Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi, where priests were attacked by a crowd last month. TBILISI, DFWatch–A government official in Georgia has provided details about the internal work of a United Nations committee tasked with overseeing the human rights situation in member countries. Levan Isakhanyan, Head of the Department of Legal Affairs, Relations […]
