Freedom of Speech

121 Posts

•

0 Followers

Georgia's Constitutional Court. Official photo.

Democracy

Georgian Constitutional Court declines to suspend foreign agent law

by OC Media

•2 min read

The Constitutional Court of Georgia has declined a motion to suspend the foreign agent law pending a final ruling on its constitutionality. On Wednesday, the court announced it had agreed to hear the case against the law, more than a month after four separate lawsuits against it were filed and merged into one appeal. According to their decision, none of the law’s articles will be suspended until the case is resolved. Two of the eight judges, Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze and Teimuraz Tughushi,

Onise Okriashvili performing at Stand-Up Tbilisi. Photo: Stand-Up Tbilisi.

Feature Stories

A stage for rebellion: stand-up amidst Georgia’s protests

by Tamar Mchedlidze

•11 min read

As Georgia’s political divides widen and the threat of censorship looms large, the country’s stand-up scene is providing a space for debate, but may now be in the firing line. ‘So, why aren’t you at the protest?’, asks the voice on the main stage at a bar near Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue. The awkward chuckles of the audience at the open mic night mingle with the sounds of protesters a few streets away. A protest march against the adoption of the ‘Russian’ or ‘foreign agent’ law atte

Georgian municipal elections 2021. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Transparency International Georgia ‘no longer able’ to observe October elections

by OC Media

•3 min read

UPDATE: On Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, called on the Georgian Anti-Corruption Bureau to reconsider its decision to label TI Georgia and its director, Eka Gigauri, as entities with electoral goals. The government administration published Kobakhidze’s statement on Facebook. According to Kobakhidze, the Bureau’s decision, from a legal standpoint, was based on the ‘highest standard of truthfulness’. However, he recommended that the status of TI Georgia sho

Left: Razhden Kuprashvili. Right: Eka Gigauri.

2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Transparency International Georgia declared ‘electoral subject’ by authorities

by Shota Kincha

•3 min read

The Georgian Anti-Corruption Bureau has classified Transparency International Georgia and its head as entities ‘with a declared electoral goal’, ordering them to submit financial declarations to the Bureau within five days. The decision on Tuesday also labelled Vote for Europe under the same classification. The group was created in July after the government passed the foreign agent law to mobilise Georgians to cast their votes on 26 October. They have been highly critical of the ruling party.

US Ambassador Robin Dunnigan and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. Official image.

Alt Info

Kobakhidze says Washington was ‘influenced’ to sanction Georgian nationals

by OC Media

•3 min read

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has said that he believed US President Joe Biden’s administration was ‘influenced’ by ‘certain forces’ to impose sanctions on Georgian nationals, suggesting that American institutions needed ‘de-oligharchisation’. In a press briefing on Tuesday, Kobakhidze said that the decision to impose financial sanctions on four Georgian nationals, in addition to travel restrictions on over 60 others, was ‘frivolous and very sad’. He further suggested that the

Freedom of Speech

Foreign agent law protestor sentenced to four years in prison

by OC Media

•2 min read

Tbilisi City Court has sentenced foreign agent law protester Giorgi Shanidze to four years in prison, months after his arrest at a mass protest against the controversial foreign agent law. Shanidze was arrested on 9 May on charges of damaging a surveillance camera in the vicinity of the Georgian parliament during the rally. He was later additionally charged with growing cannabis. According to local media, Shanidze was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for damaging the surveillance

Aleksandre Samkharadze. Image via RFE/RL.

Freedom of Expression

Target of Georgian MP orange attack fined for provoking attack

by OC Media

•2 min read

A man who filmed a Georgian MP stealing and throwing an orange at him has been fined for provoking the attack, by insulting MPs over their support of the foreign agent law. Aleksandre Samkharadze, 29, was fined ₾1,000 ($370) on Monday. He was charged with petty hooliganism after publishing footage of himself hurling insults at MPs leaving parliament after they overruled President Salome Zourabichvili’s veto of the controversial law on 28 May. In the footage, Samkharadze is heard shouting ‘ra