Democracy Research Institute published a report on Anti-Gender Rhetoric and Gender Stereotypes in Social Media from January 2023 to May 2024. The report emphasizes that since 2023, the Georgian Dream government has turned increasingly towards ultra-right, ultra-conservative ideologies and has used homophobic, misogynistic, and anti-gender language to gain support from conservative voters in the upcoming elections.
The Georgian news agency “Mtis Ambebi” [Mountain Stories] reported that the Prosecutor’s office recognized its editor-in-chief, Gela Mtivlishvili, as an aggrieved party in the case of his arrest by the police, illegal interference in journalistic activities, and physical violence during the Kekelidze Street eviction standoff on January 23. This decision comes five months after an incident where Mtivlishvili says he was illegally detained while covering the story and physically assaulted by the Police officers during detention.
Opposition-leaning Formula TV reported that another Russian civic activist Boris Zolotarevsky was denied entry into Georgia at the Tbilisi International Airport. In a Facebook post, Zolotarevsky claims he was refused to enter the country without any explanation in his third year of living in Georgia.
Head of the Criminal Police Department, Teimuraz Kupatadze, and Head of the Patrol Police Department, Vazha Siradze, publicly denied rumors about being sanctioned under the U.S. visa restriction policy. “We have very close, everyday cooperation with the U.S. law enforcement agencies, including with FBI, DEA, and INL. I just arrived from the U.S. and went straight to this reception, said Kupatadze, attending the July 4th Independence Day reception at the U.S. Embassy courtyard in Tbilisi.
The Data of the Day
According to the National Statistics Office’s latest reports, Georgia’s annual inflation rate remained low at 2.2% in June 2024. Monthly, meanwhile, consumer prices grew by 0.5%. The annual inflation rate was primarily driven by price changes in transport (11% increase); restaurants and hotels (7.5% increase); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.4% increase); and food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.9% increase).
