Gia Lortkipanidze (Ipn) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia (POG) has indicted a former Georgian official and Odessa governor confidant in Ukraine for directing a brutal dispersal of opposition rally back in 2011. Gia Lortkipanidze, a deputy of then omnipotent […]
(DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia is preparing to celebrate Independence Day, May 26. Roses Square, where there usually are held exhibitions and organized different activities on this day, will be closed off to traffic this year from May 22 until May 26. President Mikheil Saakashvili […]
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 […]
Nino Burjanadze. (Interpresnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The trial about a brutal police dispersal of protesters on May 26, 2011, continued at Tbilisi City Court Monday with testimony by Nino Burjanadze, one of the leaders of the protest. While Burjanadze, leader of Democratic Movement, was in court giving […]
Tbilisi City Court heard further witnesses in a trial about the brutal dispersal of demonstrators in Tbilisi on May 26, 2011. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Four more witnesses were heard on Tuesday in a trial about the violent police dispersal on May 26, 2011. The witnesses were Zaza Papuashvili, Soso Jachvliani and Luka Kurtanidze, who represent the People’s Assembly, and Beka Javakhadze from the […]
A trial is underway in Georgia to determine guilt for the violent dispersal of protesters on May 26, 2011, which led to several deaths. TBILISI, DFWatch–A court in Georgia on Friday questioned witnesses and participant in a demonstration on May 26 in 2011, which was violently dispersed by the police causing several deaths. One of the participants, Gia Burjanadze from the People’s Assembly, recalled […]
Police used excessive force on May 26, 2011, according to Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association. TBILISI, DFWatch–The lawyer of the detained former prime minister Vano Merabishvili demands to stop the criminal prosecution against his client, or at least release him on bail, after the publication of a report commissioned by the US Justice Department. […]
Independence Day was celebrated in 26 towns and cities. Here a scene from Tbilisi. (DFWatch photo.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Sunday May 26, Georgia marked its Independence Day in 26 cities and towns all over the country. The celebration included folklore ensembles and choir concerts, military and police equipment exhibitions, theatrical performances and other events. […]
From last year’s celebration at Roses Square, Tbilisi. (DFWatch photo.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Preparations are ongoing in Georgia for the Independence Day celebration Sunday, May 26. Government officials say there will not be a military parade through the capital as there has been in the past. Instead, there will be held different events […]
An armored vehicle on Roses Square in Tbilisi May 26, 2012. (DFWatch photo.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Ivanishvili government is making plans for a different kind of Independence Day celebration on May 26. Instead of a big military parade in the capital, as was the rule under President Saakashvili, it is planning to hold many smaller events […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–The government in Georgia has not invited President Mikheil Saakashvili to the celebration of Independence Day May 26, which this year will not involve a military parade. Vice Speaker of Parliament Manana Kobakhidze said the president still […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, says Georgia has a government which is ashamed of conducting an independence day parade and this way gives up the key to its independence. Georgia marks its independence day on May 26. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch — Leaders of People’s Assembly and Democratic Movement demand the release of political prisoners and illegally arrested people as soon as possible. Nino Burjanadze, leader of Democratic Movement, and Irakli Batiashvili from People’s Assembly today […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The recent criticism against Swedish telecom giant Teliasonera’s cooperation with totalitarian regimes in the former Soviet Union has prompted the company to start a new program for ensuring that human rights are observed. -We denounce all human rights […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Amnesty International criticizes Georgia for not having investigated police brutality. The Saakashvili regime has renewed the country’s law enforcement personnel since seizing power in 2003, and is touting the reform as a model for other countries. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – In a new report, the EU Commission criticizes Georgia’s government for the police brutality on May 26, 2011. The criticism comes as the Commission is taking stock of how well each country has performed in 2011 under a democracy building […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Swedish TV recently revealed that Teliasonera has opened their doors for an Orwellian level of surveillance in former Soviet countries. A group of lawyers in Georgia now says that indiscriminate wiretapping is illegal. Georgian Young Lawyer’s […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s ambassador to Sweden protests against the portrayal of his country as an Orwellian society where everybody is under surveillance by the secret police. Ambassador Konstantin Kavtaradze sent a letter to SVT, the Swedish public broadcaster, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A billionaire newcomer politician in the former Soviet republic of Georgia criticizes a radical opposition leader for mismanagement involving a violent clash last spring. The movement People’s Assembly mobilized all across the country in 2011, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An opposition billionaire in the former Soviet republic of Georgia Tuesday had meetings with representatives for the movement behind a protest wave which ended in a fatal clash with police in May 2011. Bidzina Ivanishvili met with People’s Assembly, […]
The government’s response to police violence on May 26, 2011, was clearly insufficient and inadequate and encourages a syndrome of impunity, writes Tamta Mikeladze, lawyer with Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association. The assembly held outside parliament on May 25-26 was peaceful in general, which, according to applicable international standards, imposed an obligation on the state to resort [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - In spite of early reports of three dead, five people actually died when police raided and dispersed a peaceful anti-government protest in Tbilisi on May 26, 2011. The horrors visited upon those who were there is the topic of a lengthy report published Friday by the Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association (GYLA). GYLA's report [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian police accepts responsibility for damages journalists suffered as law enforcers violently dispersed a peaceful demonstration May 26. After the second court hearing of the trial at Tbilisi city court Wednesday, the Interior Ministry representative suggested to the journalists and media organizations affected by the violence to come to an agreement. Natia Kapanadze, [...]
