Monthly Archives: December 2019

Georgian doctor freed from South Ossetian captivity

By | December 30th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , |

TBILISI, DFWatch--A prominent Georgian medical doctor was released on December 28 after spending 50 days in South Ossetian captivity for “illegal border crossing”. After his release on Saturday, Vazha Gaprindashvili emphasized that he has never admitted crossing the border, which is not recognized as such by Georgia. “My position was from the first day [of captivity], and [...]

South Ossetia refuses to reopen Akhalgori checkpoint

By | December 28th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Anatoly Bibilov at the meeting with Akhalgori residents. (Photo by the de facto president's administration.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Tskhinvali refuses to reopen the passage to Akhalgori, a predominantly ethnic Georgian district of South Ossetia, unless Georgia disbands the checkpoint in Tsnelisi, the de facto president of the breakaway republic said on Thursday. "You address me as [...]

Georgia’s opposition TV channels’ accounts seized amid growing concerns of government pressure

By | December 26th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , , , |

The logos of TV Pirveli, Rustavi 2 and Kavkasia. Georgia’s opposition TV channels have slammed the financial sanctions by the government as politically motivated and vow to keep on “critical broadcasting” amid what they dub as growing pressure by Georgian Dream authorities. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance seized bank accounts of and started [...]

Tskhinvali regime sentences “defiant” Georgian medic to 21 months in jail

By | December 20th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , , , |

Dr. Vazha Gaprindashvili Tskhinvali regime on Friday sentenced a prominent Georgian medical doctor to twenty months in jail for “illegal crossing” of “state border” of the breakaway republic. Vazha Gaprindashvili who is a well-known Georgian medical doctor and currently presides the Association of Orthopedists and Traumatologists of Georgia, was detained in mid-November in Akhalgori [...]

Georgian police under attack for brutality as 15 y/o commits suicide after interrogation

By | December 18th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , |

Rally of solidarity to Luka in Kutaisi. Protesters hold banned with slogan "F**k this Life". (Ipress.ge) The tragic death of 15-year old boy has sparked a mass outcry throughout Georgia. Dozens of protesters, mainly young people, went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Government office and other state institutions to denounce police officers [...]

Georgian parliament staffs Supreme Court amid opposition boycott, “chemical attack” and roaring protests

By | December 12th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , |

(IPN.) Parliament of Georgia approved 14 candidates as Supreme Court judges amid a cascade of confrontations on Thursday, which included even physical conflict between two MPs. The list of judges includes several controversial individuals which, many civic activists argue, will eventually help ruling Georgian Dream party to tighten its grip to the country’s judiciary. [...]

“The ice has started to melt” – Georgian government, opposition agree to discuss electoral reform

By | December 9th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , |

(AjaraTV.) The second round of negotiations between the Georgian government and opposition was concluded Sunday late evening with a slight progress amid growing pressure from western politicians and diplomats. The ruling party Georgian Dream has grudgingly agreed to discuss establishment of multi-mandate majoritarian electoral districts instead of single-member ones. “The ice has started to [...]

Such campaigns against American NGOs are being run out of the Kremlin: IRI president

By | December 5th, 2019|Categories: Interviews|Tags: , , |

Daniel Twining (Twitter). “I am a little surprised to be talking about this in the context of Georgia, because such a campaign against American NGOs is being run out of the Kremlin […] When we hear foreign politicians, foreign governments, attacking American NGO’s it is usually in cases like Russia and China, where there [...]

Georgian government accused of utilizing street violence to check opposition protests

By | December 3rd, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , , |

Confrontation between opposition and pro-government activists in Mtkheta. (1tv.ge) The Georgia Dream has employed a new tactic to check anti-government protests throughout Georgia, which includes unleashing violent gangs of their supporters to confront activists verbally and physically, opposition claims. This invokes a parallel with Euromaidan when the government of pro-Russian leader Victor Yanukovych unleashed [...]