The Daily Beat: 11 September
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused the U.S. of planning to “interfere” in Georgia’s upcoming parliamentary elections against the ruling Georgian Dream party, using the OSCE/ODIHR, the Russian state-controlled media TASS reported, citing the document received by the agency from the SVR. This is SVR’s third comment on the upcoming October elections in Georgia within the last few weeks.
Communications Commission (ComCom) upheld Georgian Dream’s complaint and issued a protocol of administrative violations against opposition-leaning Mtavari TV for refusing to air GD’s political campaign advertisement. The TV channel refused to broadcast the ad, claiming that the video contained “hate speech” and could violate the Broadcasting Law or the Advertising Law of Georgia.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze believes that no one in the opposition is worthy of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s fingernail. “It would be daring for the opposition to even consider the possibility of debating with Bidzina Ivanishvili. None from the opposition are worth even his fingernail. You should have built yourself quite a reputation to dare and propose a debate to Bidzina Ivanishvili. Nobody from the opposition has any of it,” PM Irakli Kobakhidze said.
The Tbilisi City Court fined Aleko Elisashvili, one of the leaders of the opposition coalition “Strong Georgia,” GEL 2000 (approximately USD 742) for petty hooliganism and disobedience to the police. Elisashvili was charged with cursing at a policeman on April 17, when police physically assaulted him and later detained for several hours.
The Tbilisi City Court fined Saba Meparishvili GEL 2000 (approximately USD 742) for petty hooliganism and disobedience to the police. Meparishvili is also charged with damaging or destroying property, by “deliberately damaging” the iron protective barrier near the Parliament building during the spring protests against the Law on Foreign Agents.
In another post on Facebook, the head of the National Seismic Monitoring Center of Ilia State University, Tea Godoladze says, citing the information received from the U.S. authorities, that the suspension of USD 95 million U.S. aid to the Georgian government will not affect the funding of the Center. “This will not affect our institute, as the U.S. fully understands the critical importance of ensuring the safety of people,” writes Godoladze. The day before, she announced that the U.S. had stopped funding the Center.
