Environment

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Residents of Shukruti hold banners during the protest in front of the Georgian parliament on 11 September. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.

Chiatura Manganese Mines

Mining company files 30 new lawsuits against Shukruti residents

by OC Media

•3 min read

Manganese mining company Magharoeli LLC has filed lawsuits against 30 residents in the village of Shukruti, demanding that the residents pay a total of ₾5.5 million ($2.1 million), as well as restricting their property rights. The Shukruti residents’ lawyer, Lado Kutateladze, told OC Media that they only found out about the lawsuits on Monday, adding that this latest series of cases aimed to pressure Shukruti residents to end their protest against mining operations under their village.

Residents of Shukruti hold a banner saying ‘To save village Shukruti’. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.

Chiatura Manganese Mines

Shukruti residents arrive in Tbilisi to continue protest against manganese mining

by OC Media

•3 min read

Demonstrators from Shukruti, who have been protesting for almost six months to raise awareness of the damage caused by manganese mining under their village, have moved their protest to Tbilisi. Police did not allow them to set up their tent in front of the parliament building. On Wednesday evening, several dozen demonstrators arrived in Tbilisi from the village of Shukruti, west Georgia. They asked the state to pay attention to their problems and their protest. Residents of Shukruti have bee

Azerbaijan

Tongan activist hits out at Azerbaijan’s environmental record ahead of COP29

by Aytan Farhadova

•2 min read

A Tongan activist has lashed out at Azerbaijan’s climate record ahead of the COP29 UN climate summit in Baku. Joseph Zane Sikulu, an activist from the Pacific Basin Climate Movement made the comments in an open letter to the President of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev, a former oil executive at SOCAR. In the letter, Sikulu introduced himself as a native Tongan, noting that Babayev recently visited the islands of Tonga to participate in the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum. ‘You visited my home island la

Jumber Tsutskiridze, Giorgi Bitsadze and Amiran Shekiladze sewed their mouths on Sunday. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Chiatura Manganese Mines

Three in Shukruti sew lips shut in protest against manganese mining

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•4 min read

On Sunday, three protesters from the village of Shukruti sewed their lips shut in an attempt to attract attention to their protest against the damage manganese mining is causing to their homes. This latest action follows more than five months of continuous protest by local residents. Sunday morning was gloomy in the protest tent. People had been gathering since the early hours, knowing that some of the protesters had made the decision to take the extreme measure of sewing their lips shut. W

A standoff at the entrance to Chorvila village. Image: Kutaisipost.

Environment

Shukruti protesters vow to sew lips shut after being barred from entering Ivanishvili’s village

by OC Media

•2 min read

A group of Shukruti residents protesting manganese mining under their village have vowed to sew their lips shut after local residents blocked them from entering Chorvila, the birthplace of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili. Members of the group vowed on Monday to sew their lips shut on 1 September, having done so previously in their protests against Georgian Manganese, a company running extensive manganese mines in the region. They have repeatedly called on the government to intervene

Nargiza Kapanadze at the entrance to her storage room, which has visible cracks outside and inside. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Chiatura Manganese Mines

Shukruti residents banned from protesting outside manganese mines

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•3 min read

Anti-mining protesters in the western Georgian town of Shukruti have vowed to march to the hometown of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, after a court banned them from blocking mine access. The Sachkhere District Court banned residents of Shukruti, near Chiatura, from protesting outside a series of manganese mines. Protesters have spent the last five months blocking access to the mines to demand compensation for the damage, and in some cases, complete collaps

Riot police outside Soyudlu village in June 2023, as people from the village protest. Photo via Caucasus Watch

Azerbaijan

Soyudlu protest poster printer imprisoned on drug charges

by Aytan Farhadova

•1 min read

An Azerbaijani man working at a printing shop which printed posters for the 2023 Soyudlu environmental protests has been sentenced to prison on drug charges. Joshgun Musayev, 34, was sentenced to three years in prison by the Baku Court of Grave Crimes on 7 August, after having spent over a year in police detention since a protest against environmental damage caused by a goldmine near Soyudlu village in June 2023. Musayev claims that he was framed and that charges brought against him were poli