omega tapes

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Otar Partskhaladze. Photo via marshallpress

Bidzina Ivanishvili

Scandal-ridden Georgian former prosecutor sanctioned by US

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•4 min read

Otar Partskhaladze, a former Georgian prosecutor general who was accused of violence and involvement in extortion, has been included in a new list of individuals sanctioned by the US. On Thursday, the US State Department announced that Partskhaladze, who held the post of Prosecutor General for a month and a half in 2013 and who is described as a ‘Georgian–Russian oligarch’, was sanctioned for ‘operating or having operated in the management consulting sector’ of Russia’s economy, and in relatio

Bidzina Ivanishvili

Fired TV Iberia employees claim company used them for business interests

by OC Media

•4 min read

Former employees of Iberia TV have openly criticised the channel’s owners, Zaza Okuashvili, a Russian-British citizen, and his wife, Georgian MP Nato Chkheidze, claiming they were used in a financial spat with the government. They have demanded to be paid unpaid salaries and compensation after mass layoffs at the station. ‘We fought and eventually ended up out in the street, and no one even said thank you’, the former head of the Iberia TV’s news service Vakho Kuzmiashvili complained during

Georgia

Scandal ridden former Georgian chief prosecutor charged over brawl

by OC Media

•5 min read

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has charged former Chief Prosecutor Otar Partskhaladze over a 2017 fight with then–Auditor General Lasha Tordia. Partskhaladze, who served as chief prosecutor for just 47 days, has been a frequent subject of criticism, including over his alleged role in the Omega tapes scandal. On Monday, Tbilisi City Court granted Partskhaladze ₾5,000 ($3,700) bail, as requested by the prosecution. Georgian media reported he had been questioning that day, but news of hi

Bidzina Ivanishvili

Ivanishvili rejects accusations of involvement in racket in TV interview

by OC Media

•4 min read

The chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has rejected accusations of involvement in a state racket against businesses, saying he met Omega Group director Zaza Okuashvili as a businessman. In an interview on Tuesday evening with three TV journalists, Ivanishvili said Okuashvili started blackmailing the government because he didn’t want to pay his tax debts. Ivanishvili offered a televised interview to three TV channels, including opposition-leaning Rustavi 2. O

Analysis

Analysis | Georgia’s tapes scandals suggest something is rotten at the top of Georgian politics

by OC Media

•8 min read

The Omega Tapes scandal, and now secret recordings of former official Mirza Subeliani, suggest Georgia’s government has serious questions to answer. When Georgian Dream swept to power in 2012, they did so on the back of popular anger at the justice and security apparatus under the then ruling United National Movement (UNM). Outrage over the 2012 prison rape scandal drove tens of thousands of people into the streets — and into the polling stations. Georgian Dream leaders decried the U

Georgia

Prosecutor’s Office ‘stages’ new Subeliani tapes contradicting claims of abuse

by OC Media

•4 min read

The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office has released a taped conversation allegedly of former senior official Mirza Subeliani in which he contradicts earlier claims of torture and abuse in Georgian law enforcement. Critics have pointed to inconsistencies in the new tape and there has been widespread speculation it was staged. Subeliani is currently being charged with failing to report a crime over the Khorava street murders investigation. In previous recordings aired on Sunday by opposition l

Georgia

Detained former Georgian official threatens to bring down government with ‘kompromat’

by OC Media

•4 min read

A former official on trial for ‘compromising’ the Khorava Street murder investigation has threatened to release incriminating recordings of senior officials which he claimed could bring down the government, Rustavi 2 has reported. In a series recordings aired by Rustavi 2 on Sunday, a man identified as Mirza Subeliani, a former high-level official at the Prosecutor’s Office, alleged that he had secretly agreed with the authorities to serve a year in prison over the controversial investigati