The Daily Beat: 30 January
GD-elected President Mikhei Kavelashvili awarded high-ranking police officials with an Order of Honors, citing “special contribution to strengthening law and order.” Most awarded officials are under Western sanctions, including Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri and the Director of the infamous Special Task Department Zviad Karazishvili. Two weeks ago, the GD-elected President awarded the Interior Minister the rank of Colonel General.
Commenting on the awarding ceremony of police officials at Orbeliani Palace, President Salome Zurabishvili posted on X: “Yesterday PACE demanded Georgia to stop police violence and today the puppet president decorated the main sanctioned figures of the Interior Ministry responsible for violence and torture.”
In the meantime, Czechia imposed sanctions on three high-ranking MIA officials for their involvement in the “brutal repression of protests”, according to Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský. “Today, at my suggestion, the government imposed sanctions on three employees of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is because of their direct responsibility for the brutal repression of protests in Georgia over the last year. In layman’s terms – thugs. And we do not want them in the Czech Republic,” Lipavský wrote on X.
GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, along with his ministers, visited Armenia where he met with Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan. During their meeting, they emphasized the “strategic importance” of the bilateral relationship between the countries. As part of the visit, a session of the Georgian-Armenian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation was held, chaired by both prime ministers.
14 embassies of the Media Freedom Coalition in Georgia released a joint statement, expressing concern about the welfare of Mzia Amaglobeli and describing her pre-trial detention as unjustified. “Mzia must be released immediately and her case reviewed,” reads the joint statement. Embassies also call on the Georgian authorities to ensure the rights of journalists who have suffered excessive use of force while reporting on the protests.
Following a meeting between EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski and the families of detainees, the EU Delegation to Georgia released a statement on Facebook highlighting the emotional toll of detention on both the incarcerated and their loved ones. The post expressed solidarity with those unjustly detained and called for their release, stating, “No one should be punished for defending our shared democratic values. Justice must prevail. Impunity must end.” For more updates, tap our Live blog: Resistance.
The management of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) came under fire by the channel’s journalists, during the Board of Trustees meeting broadcast live, when some journalists gained access to the meeting and openly criticized the channel’s limited coverage of pro-EU protests and lack of editorial independence. They also said there had been insufficient coverage of the imprisoned director of the Batumelebi/Netgazeti publication, Mzia Amaghlobeli.
The Human Rights Center (HRC), a local human rights watchdog published its annual report, critically assessing the state of human rights protection in Georgia in 2024 and detailing the country’s “democratic backsliding in 2024”. The report is based on evaluations and assessments conducted by the Human Rights Center, the Human Rights Defenders Association, the Public Defender of Georgia, and other local and international organizations to determine the standard of human rights protection in the country.