Protest

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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

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 crowd in Ochamchira protesting against the bill's passing in its first committee hearing on 19 July. Still from video, OC Media

Abkhazia

Abkhazian President ‘chastises’ officials for failing to contain protests

by OC Media

•1 min read

An anonymous opposition figure has claimed that Abkhazia’s President Aslan Bzhaniya reprimanded local officials for failing to contain recent protests against the aborted apartments law, and instructed them to provoke opposition figures. Sit Maan, an anonymous blogger who frequently posts reports about the government in Abkhazia on Pravda Abkhazia, a public Facebook group, claimed that Bzhaniya met with law enforcement officers and local officials on Friday evening. Bzhaniya reportedly repr

The Tavush for the Motherland protest in front of the Investigative Committee. Image via Tavush for the Motherland.

Armenia

Protests continue in Armenia in demand of detainees’ release

by Arshaluys Barseghyan

•2 min read

Members of the anti-government group Tavush for the Motherland have marched to Armenia’s Investigative Committee demanding the release of 27 detainees and that police officers be held accountable for violence against protesters. The movement, initially created to protest the border delimitation process with Azerbaijan, marched to Armenia’s Investigative Committee on Monday. They demanded a meeting with a representative of the committee, but were instead instructed to submit an application fo

Armenia

Armenian rights groups condemn police attacks on opposition MP and protesters

by Arshaluys Barseghyan

•2 min read

A group of Armenian rights organisations have condemned the police’s violent dispersal and detention of around 300 protesters and an attack on an opposition MP In a joint statement on Tuesday, five leading local rights groups condemned ‘all instances and manifestations of violence by law enforcement agencies’. They demanded the authorities conduct an independent investigation into each reported violation. ‘The use of such methods by the police is the result of a longstanding policy of impuni

Georgia

Second family saved from eviction in Tbilisi as protests continue

by Shota Kincha

•3 min read

Georgia’s National Bureau of Enforcement has postponed the eviction of a second family in Tbilisi, as protests against a series of controversial evictions continue. On Friday, protesters gathered outside the home of the Balakhadze family, who were due to be evicted later that day. The family includes Guja Balakhadze, a food delivery worker and the family’s primary breadwinner, his brother, who has disabilities, his elderly mother, and several children. The protest was supported by Khma (‘vo