The Daily Beat: 2 February
The ruling Georgian Dream PM candidate, Irakli Kobakhidze, submitted his government program – “For Building European State,” to the parliament. Peaceful resolution of the Russia-Georgia conflict, restoration of the country’s territorial integrity, and Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration are outlined as the main priorities of the PM candidate’s government program. Parliament will start the committee hearings for the government’s approval next week.
The Tbilisi City Court sentenced Nata Peradze, a civic activist, to five days of administrative detention for defacing the St. Matrona of Moscow icon depicting late Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity (Sameba) Cathedral. Nata Peradze was handcuffed and arrested by police at her apartment in Tbilisi on the charges of petty hooliganism. A few weeks ago, the pro-Russian and homophobic party Conservative Movement/Alt-Info rallied in front of the parliament building, calling on the authorities to punish those responsible for insulting St. Matrona’s icon.
The Georgian Legion reported the killing of two Georgian fighters – Zura Tsiklauri and Gocha Zhvania, in eastern Ukraine, bringing the unofficial death toll of Georgian citizens in Ukraine since the Russian invasion to 44. The Georgian Legion informed Civil.ge that both fighters were Georgian citizens who had been fighting in Ukraine since 2014. The foreign ministry also confirmed this information. The Georgian Legion is a military unit comprising mostly ethnic Georgian volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine.
The attorney of Akaki Chikobava and Giorgi Khasia, confirmed to Civil.ge that both were remanded in custody by the Tbilisi Court of Appeals. According to the attorney, their release now depends only on the prosecutor’s appeal to the first instance court to overturn the decision. Akaki Chikobava and Giorgi Khasia were sentenced to pre-trial detention for damaging the car of the National Bureau of Enforcement during the eviction standoff in central Tbilisi.
The Data of the Day
National Statistics Officereported that the country’s annual inflation rate amounted to 0.0% in January 2024. Statistics Office also indicates that on a monthly basis, consumer prices increased by 0.3%. According to the same data source, the annual inflation rate was primarily driven by price changes in miscellaneous goods and services (9.2% increase), transport (4.3% increase), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.5% increase), health (3.3% increase) and food and non-alcoholic beverages (2.4% increase).
