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abduction

The Afgan Mukhtarli case: an investigation stalled?

by Gulnur Kazimova

•6 min read

Since exiled Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli disappeared from Tbilisi, reappearing a day later in an Azerbaijani jail, suspicions of Georgian involvement in his kidnapping have remained. Mukhtarli himself has accused the Georgian government of complicity, and while this is a charge they deny, local rights groups are becoming impatient with the pace and transparency of the official investigation into his disappearance. On 6 February, imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukht

Feature Stories

In conversation with Nata

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•8 min read

Transgender woman, activist, and sex worker, ‘Nata’, shares stories of living in a society where homo- and transphobia is deeply entrenched, with the threat of violence and murder constantly looming. OC Media: Tell me about your background growing up a transgender woman, and how you came to Tbilisi. Nata: I’m from a small village in Kakheti. In the village I didn’t know what transgender meant. I believed that I had a past life where I was a Turkish woman interested in botany. I used to be

Feature Stories

Imam of Pankisi: There is no ‘radicalisation’ here

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•7 min read

Salafi imam of Pankisi, Bekkhan Pareulidze, sat down with OC Media for an exclusive interview, in which he discussed the region’s religious divisions, the outflow of young Kists to Syria, and the role civil society has to play in the valley. Since the 1990s, Pankisi Valley, in the northeast of Georgia, has attracted international attention as a wild and dangerous place, due to it’s association with Chechen fighters, drug trafficking, and violence. Although nowadays Pankisi is a peaceful rur