The Daily Beat: 6 April
The Georgian Dream government’s candidate, Anri Okhanashvili, who received 79 votes in favor and no votes against, was approved by the Georgian Dream parliament as the new head of the State Security Service, replacing Grigol Liluashvili. Okhanashvili has served as GD’s Minister of Justice since the end of last year and previously headed the Legal Issues Committee in the Georgian Parliament, actively lobbying for the law on foreign agents and other repressive legislation.
The newly appointed GD head of State Security Service, Anri Okhanashvili, named his three deputies on April 5, following his replacement of Grigol Liluashvili earlier in the week. The new GD deputy chiefs are Irakli Beraia, Gela Geladze,and Levan Kharanauli. For more detailed information about the new Deputy Chiefs of the country’s Security Service, tap here.
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has rather unexpectedly changed his mind about appointing the current head of the State Security Service, Grigol Liluashvili, to the soon-to-be-created Ministry of Regional Development. Kobakhidze stated that Liluashvili would be replaced by Kakhaber Guledani, citing disagreements over staffing issues with Liluashvili.
On April 4, Tornike Rizhvadze announced his resignation as Head of the local government of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. Later the same day, GD-elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili nominated UK-sanctioned high-ranking police officer Sulkhan Tamazashvili for the post. “I remain a loyal soldier of the Georgian Dream, and I am sure that many great victories lie ahead!” Rizhvadze wrote in a Facebook post. Rizhvadze has led the regional government since 2018.
On April 5, Tbilisi City Court ordered Badri Japaridze, a leader of the opposition Lelo party, to pay 50,000 GEL [about USD 18,200] in bail after he refused to appear before the Georgian Dream parliamentary investigative commission. Earlier, another Lelo leader, Mamuka Khazaradze, was ordered to pay the same amount in bail for also failing to comply with the commission’s summons.
Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) approved amendments to regulations that tighten election-day procedures and limit media and observer access to polling stations. Civil society groups, President Salome Zurabishvili, and opposition figures criticized the move as a step backward for electoral transparency and warned that the changes could make it more difficult to detect voter fraud, including the recurring problem of carousel voting.
On Saturday, the leader of the political movement “United Neutral Georgia,” Vato Shakarashvili, and the film director and GD propagandist Goga Khaindrava physically assaulted the journalist of the opposition TV channel “Mtavari TV,” Giorgi Mamniashvili. Mamniashvili claims the altercation occurred after he called Shakarashvili a “slave,” referring to a March 17 appeal by Shakarashvili’s organization that led to the freezing of bank accounts belonging to foundations supporting pro-European rally participants and socially vulnerable groups.
On Sunday, Vato Shakarashvili was involved in another incident against youth activist Tatia Apriamashvili on Rustaveli Avenue, where he appeared alongside the pro-government POST TV crew. She reportedly shouted “slave” at the propagandists aligned with the ruling Georgian Dream party. During the altercation, Shakarashvili was heard saying, “Move now, or I’ll crack your head.”
Police arrested Saba Sordia, a journalist for the online media outlet Indigo, accusing him of disobedience to a lawful police order, according to a Facebook post by Indigo’s executive director, Nata Dzvelishvili. For more updates on the Georgian resistance, follow our live blog.