Mauri Murgia runs the "diplomatic representation" out of a flat in Rome. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--South Ossetia’s “ambassador” to Italy says that “the time has come” for recognizing its independence. “We believe that the time has come that Italy through its current government recognizes the republic of South Ossetia as a state equal to all [...]
Levan Vasadze at an anti-LGBT rally in Vere Garden in Tbilisi on June 16. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--The conservative Georgian businessman Levan Vasadze has demanded that the government impose the strictest possible control over the media, and even jail some journalists, otherwise "nothing will save this country". "I address Bidzina Ivanishvili and our government to [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze (left) and Badri Japaridze addressing the media outside Tbilisi City Court. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tbilisi city court on Friday released the two founders of Georgia's largest bank against a 700,000 lari bail each. The two were also barred from leaving the country without notifying investigators. The defendants, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, said [...]
Irakli Okruashvili was detained as he left a TV studio. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Police in Georgia Thursday detained the leader of an opposition party and charged him with participating in an attempted coup d’etat. Irakli Okruashvili, who served as defense minister and prosecutor general during Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidency, was apprehended as he was on his [...]
Eka Beselia. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Police in Georgia have identified the person responsible for uploading to the internet a compromising video of an outspoken female member of parliament. The person identified by his initials as D.A. is currently serving a prison sentence in Armenia, a spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Tuesday. [...]
Enguri Bridge. (DFWatch.) TBILISI, DFWatch--NATO asked breakaway Abkhazia to reopen a checkpoint to Georgia proper in 2016, local media report. The incident happened after the de facto authorities closed all but one of the crossings along the administrative border line that separates the breakaway republic from the rest of Georgia. Temur Nadaraia, who heads [...]
Backers of Rustavi 2 claim the dispute is aimed at silencing critical opposition media. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia's largest opposition TV channel Rustavi 2 will likely be taken over by an allegedly government-backed investor after losing the final court battle over its ownership at the European Court of Human Rights. In Thursday’s judgment, the court held [...]
Alhaz Kvitsinia. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch--One of the opposition parties in Abkhazia has officially nominated its chairman Alhaz Kvitsinia as a candidate for president of the breakaway republic. A local party official said this in a speech at a party congress of the Amtsakhar party, one of the largest opposition parties in the disputed region. [...]
From the left to right: Gocha Tevdoradze, Giorgi Lomia and Ada Marshania, Alliance of Patriots MPs at a press conference on Friday. TBILISI, DFWatch--Three members of the Georgian parliament are to visit Moscow and meet the Russian Duma member whose recent visit to Tbilisi led to the country’s worst political crisis for years. The [...]
The anti-government tent town after the raid. (Photo by Tabula.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A group of angry men assaulted a small protest rally at the residence of Georgian Dream leader, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili on Wednesday, according to the opposition United National Movement. The residence is situated at Shekvetili, a Black Sea coastal resort in Ozurgeti Municipality [...]
Vladimir Putin meets with Tskhinvali's de facto president, Anatoly Bibilov in Moscow, 2017. (RIA Novosti.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Russia has granted citizens of South Ossetia the right to stay in Russia indefinitely, in a move seen as yet another step toward annexation of the tiny breakaway territory. Under the current bilateral agreement between Moscow and Tskhinvali, [...]
Mamuka Khazaradze said he was urged to act by the events of June 20. (1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--The founder of Georgia's largest bank has announced his intention to establish a "public movement", a step seen by many as a bid to enter politics. Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of TBC Bank, wrote in a Facebook post [...]
Aleksandre Palavandishvili, one of the spokespersons for socially conservative activists who are trying to prevent Tbilisi Pride. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Organizers of Tbilisi Pride called off the queer rights march after the location was revealed online, but opponents were suspicious and mobilized anyway. The first gay rights march in the Caucasus was originally planned for [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch--The first ever Pride march in the Caucasus region is scheduled to take place on Monday in Tbilisi, amid pressure and threats from conservatives. Both the organizers and supporters of Pride on the one hand, and socially conservative groups on the other, have announced full mobilization. Tbilisi Pride first was planned more than two weeks [...]
A police officer puts an electronic bracelet on Nika Melia. (1tv.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Authorities are pursuing criminal charges against several high-profile opposition figures after the June 21-22 uprising in the center of the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Spokespersons for two major opposition parties, United National Movement (UNM) and European Georgia, claim they are being targeted for [...]
(DFWatch.) ZUGDIDI, DFWatch--Most of the school graduates from Abkhazia who were stuck at Enguri bridge on their way to exams eventually managed to get through on Monday, DFWatch was told by several of them. However, some teenagers are still stranded at the only point of crossing between the breakaway republic and Georgia proper. Due [...]
