TBILISI, October 25 – A Tbilisi court on Saturday ordered pre-trial detention for activist Tamar Lortkipanidze, who faces criminal charges that could carry a prison sentence of up to seven years. The Prosecutor’s Office has charged Lortkipanidze with violence and assault on a police vehicle, citing an incident that took place during protests outside Georgia’s … Read more
TBILISI, October 24 – For the 311th straight day, protesters gathered outside Georgia’s parliament on Rustaveli Avenue, demanding new elections and the release of people detained during previous demonstrations. What began as a small rally on the sidewalk Friday escalated after part of the crowd moved onto the main roadway, blocking traffic along one of … Read more
Georgia’s “crackdown” isn’t what the headlines suggest. International coverage of Georgia’s recent detentions reads like a Cold War thriller. Words such as “purge,” “totalitarianism,” and “crackdown” are passed around as generously as khinkali at a supra. Once again, foreign audiences are dazzled by the imagery but left in the dark about what’s actually happening, and … Read more
TBILISI, October 22 – Police detained around 20 protesters on Wednesday evening during renewed clashes outside Georgia’s parliament in Tbilisi. The solidarity rally for jailed journalists was held amid steady stream of detentions in recent days, and turned tense when demonstrators again blocked Rustaveli Avenue, the city’s main thoroughfare. According to the Ministry of Internal … Read more
TBILISI, October 22 – Georgian police detained twelve demonstrators in the capital during the past 24 hours for violating public assembly laws, as protests continue outside the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue despite mounting restrictions. According to a statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, protesters “continued to engage in unlawful actions” by blocking traffic … Read more
TBILISI, October 22 – Journalists in the Georgian coastal city of Batumi held a rally on Wednesday to protest the recent arrests of several reporters, calling the detentions an attack on media freedom. Carrying banners that read “Who will expose corruption and nepotism if there is no media?”, demonstrators gathered outside the Constitutional Court and … Read more