The Daily Beat: 22 August
The Public Defender of Georgia Levan Ioseliani said he would address amicus curiae brief to the Constitutional Court regarding the Foreign Agents Law. “What we’ve decided at this point is that we’re going to file an amicus brief that will be attached to the lawsuits, which I think will further help the court make the right decision,” the Public Defender said on August 22. Four lawsuits have been submitted against the law.
The Georgian National Communications Commission (ComCom) issued a written warning to the TV Obiektivi, accusing it of “distributing advertisements of political content illegally” outside of the procedure and period set by the law. According to ComCom’s August 22 statement, the TV company aired in August video clips in which the leaders of the Kremlin-friendly nativist outfit Alliance of Patriots and “others” “talk about issues such as pensions, selling land to foreigners, returning deposits, etc. At the same time, the activities of other parties or political forces are criticized.” Back in July the ComCom issued a written warning to opposition-leaning Mtavari TV for airing video clips that negatively portrayed Georgian MPs who supported the Foreign Agents law.
The Special Investigation Service arrested an employee of the Border Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for threatening his ex-wife. The detainee faces up to three years in prison. “Based on the female victim’s report, the Special Investigation Service promptly launched the investigation and carried out urgent investigative and procedural actions,” the agency said in its August 22 statement.
On August 21, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze signed the decree allowing the opening of the Honorary Consulate of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Tbilisi. The person who will hold the position remains unknown. Georgia and Bangladesh established diplomatic relations on August 27, 1992.
Civil.ge has compiled opposition reactions to the Georgian Dream campaign messages voiced by Bidzina Ivanishvili yesterday. Many opposition leaders focused on Ivanishvili’s “aquarium” – an armored glass enclosure from which he addressed the supporters, quite similar to the one U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump is using after the failed assassination attempt. PM Kobakhidze has previously claimed GD leadership was being targeted by the “global party of war” and even said EU Commissioner Oliver Varhely has told him so. The Commissioner vehemently denied this.
