Georgia

  • Georgian Official: Ruling Party Founder Ordered Azeri Journalist’s Abduction

    A former high-ranking official of the Georgian State Security Service accused the former prime minister of personally ordering the 2017 abduction of an Azeri journalist who was then forcefully taken to neighboring Azerbaijan where a court sentenced him to prison in a trial that was seen as unfair.

  • Files Show Georgian Security Service Spied on Diplomats, Journalists, Clerics

    Leaked text files revealing widespread surveillance and wiretaps by the State Security Service of Georgia are roiling the media and the internet in Georgia, featuring details about the personal lives of journalists, civil activists, politicians and clerics.

  • Georgians Protest After Beaten Journalist Dies

    Thousands of Georgians protestedon Monday against the government, requesting the resignation of the prime minister over the death of a journalist who was beaten by an anti-LGBTQ mob last week.

  • Georgia Prosecutors Say Bera Ivanishvili’s Harassing Voice Tapes Doctored

    Georgia’s General Prosecutor’s Office has questioned the veracity of tapes which appear to show Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Bera Ivanishvili, the son of the ruling “Georgian Dream” party’s founder and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, plotting revenge on a local school boy who had posted negative comments on Bera’s facebook page. 

  • Georgia Evacuates Orphans from Church-run School Accused of Abuse

    A Georgian court orderedon Saturday the evacuation of children from a Church-run boarding school for orphans after the local archbishop refused to let authorities enter the school and look into allegations of violence and sexual abuse of children.

  • US: Georgia DA To Meet With Grand Jury Over Trump Call

    The District Attorney in Georgia’s largest county will reportedly meet with a grand jury this week to request subpoenas for documents and witnesses related to an ongoing criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump for suspected election fraud, according to theAtlanta-Journal Constitution.

  • NGO Probe Finds Russia “Directly Influencing” Georgian Politics

    A recent investigation by an anti-corruption agency has revealed how Kremlin-linked actors are orchestrating the election campaign for one of Georgia’s conservative, pro-Russia opposition parties.

  • Europol Helps EU’s Eastern Neighbors Fight Organized Crime

    A new project that will be led byEuropol and financed by the European Commission will help the EU’s eastern neighbours -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine -- fight organized crime.

  • Georgian Opposition: Government Uses Graft Verdicts Against Opponents

    Georgian opposition parties suspended on Tuesday negotiations with the ruling party about the country’s election system after the Supreme Court sentenced an opposition leader to 38 months in jail for embezzling nearly US$14 million while serving as the mayor of Tbilisi.

  • Georgia On Their Minds

    The Rotenbergs’ secret American mansions, abandoned under US sanctions.

  • Estonia: Danske Bank Money Laundering Probe Expands

    The Estonian Prosecutor's Office confirmed on Thursday it expanded the investigation into money laundering through Danske bank’s Estonian branch from two to more than 10 cases that are involving suspicious transactions worth US$ 2 billion.

  • Georgia: International Child-Trafficking Ring Busted

    Georgian authorities arrested last week several members of a child-trafficking crime group, accusing them of illegal production and distribution of child sexual exploitation material.

  • Georgian Nightmare

    An Azeri community in Tbilisi is riven by the drug trade.

    Photo by Ulviyya AlievaPhoto by Ulviyya Alieva

  • Georgia: Hundreds Injured, Arrested, Including 34 Journalists

    The Chairman of Georgia’s Parliament resigned on Friday after more than 240 people, including 34 journalists, were injuredand 305 were arrested as police cracked down on protests that erupted when a Russian lawmaker sat in the wrong chair during a visit to the Parliament.

  • Georgian Activists Request Dismissal of Top Judicial Official

    Georgian activists asked the Parliament to sack a top judicial official after media revealed he was fraudulently elected and had ties to a clan alleged to control the country’s judiciary.

  • Report: Low Trust in Judiciary in Post-Soviet Georgia

    In the twenty years since the small, post-Soviet nation of Georgia joined the Council of Europe, and thirty years since Soviet troops violently suppressed civilian protests there, the country has made significant progress towards democracy, but continues to require improvement in areas such as constitutional reforms, human rights and respect of the rule of law.

  • Afgan Mukhtarli Loses Azerbaijani Supreme Court Appeal

    The Azerbaijan Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by Afgan Mukhtarli, the journalist who disappeared from a Tbilisi street in May of 2017 and reappeared two days later in a Baku courtroom.

  • Georgian Prosecutors Investigating Spanish Basketball Deal

    The Georgian Basketball Federation signed an expensive deal to develop its young players in Spain. Nearly four years later, it has almost nothing to show for it — and prosecutors are on the case.

    Nika Darbaidze (#11) participated in a player development deal with Spain’s Saski Baskonia team, but decided to join the Georgian national team instead of returning to Spain for a second season. (Photo: iFact.ge)Nika Darbaidze (#11) participated in a player development deal with Spain’s Saski Baskonia team, but decided to join the Georgian national team instead of returning to Spain for a second season. (Photo: iFact.ge)

  • Fatal Liver Transplants in Georgia Were Rush Jobs

    Dr. Mirjalal Kazimi, a liver transplant specialist, is famous in Azerbaijan.

    Patients start gathering outside his office at the Central Hospital of Oilmen in the country’s capital, Baku, before 10 am.

    Dr. Mirjalal Kazimi, an Azerbaijani doctor who specializes in transplant operations. Both of his patients in Georgia died one week after surgery. (Photo credit is anonymous for Azerbaijani reporters’ security)Dr. Mirjalal Kazimi, an Azerbaijani doctor who specializes in transplant operations. Both of his patients in Georgia died one week after surgery. (Photo credit is anonymous for Azerbaijani reporters’ security)

  • Tbilisi Marks Anniversary of Mukhtarli's 'Exit'

    Wearing black T-shirts and hoods with slogans "#Afgan" and "No Investigations Means No Cooperation," about 30 friends and human rights activists demonstrated in front of the former Parliament building on the first anniversary of the day Afgan Mukhtarli disappeared from the streets of Tbilisi.