The Daily Beat: 15 April
On April 15, Georgian Dream-elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili visited Azerbaijan. As part of the visit, Kavelashvili met with the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Ali Asadov. He is also scheduled to meet with President Ilham Aliyev as well as with the Speaker of the Milli Majlis, Sahiba Gafarova. This is Kavelashvili’s first official visit abroad since he was elected by the GD parliament on December 14 following the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections.
Giorgi Gakharia, former Prime Minister under GD and the leader of the For Georgia party, has stated that he is preparing for the municipal elections scheduled for October this year. In an interview with TV Pirveli, Gakharia mentioned that he has not made a concrete decision about whether he will participate in the elections. However, he emphasized that his party is getting ready, as any normal political party would.
Earlier in the day, Giorgi Gakharia claimed that the police raid on the headquarters of the United National Movement (UNM) on February 23, 2021, aimed at arresting opposition leader Nika Melia, was a decision made by GD patron Bidzina Ivanishvili. In response, GD Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili suggested that Gakharia’s resignation was influenced by the United States.
The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) is experiencing a “severe institutional crisis,” marked by political bias, censorship of opposition and pro-Western views, and pressure on dissenting employees, according to a report from the Media Advocacy Coalition. The report, covering GPB’s operations since 2017, claims systemic interference in its editorial independence and highlights a politicization favoring the ruling Georgian Dream party, stating that GPB has not met international public broadcasting standards.
Nika Gvaramia, a leader of the opposition Coalition for Change, has been summoned to Tbilisi City Court after failing to appear before a parliamentary investigative commission probing the actions of the former UNM government. His noncompliance violates the Criminal Code, which penalizes failure to comply with a lawful request by a parliamentary commission with a fine or up to one year in prison and a possible three-year ban from public office or professional activities.
The Tbilisi City Court has extended the immigration detention of activist and flag-bearer Temur Katamadze for up to six months, according to Veriko Jgarenaia, a GYLA lawyer representing Katamadze. Initially detained in Batumi on administrative charges, Katamadze was re-arrested shortly after his release, with authorities claiming he had no legal grounds to be in Georgia. For more updates on the Georgian resistance, follow our live blog.
On April 15, Lithuania published a list of all 102 sanctioned Georgian individuals. The list includes top GD officials, its MPs, as well as police and senior judges, including those of the Constitutional Court of Georgia. These individuals accused of enforcing repressive measures on behalf of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party are banned from entering Lithuania until 2029-2030. A list of sanctioned individuals can be found in our article on Baltic sanctions.
On April 15, Transparency International condemned recent amendments to Georgia’s Law on Grants, stating they threaten civil society’s independence and its role in democracy. They expressed solidarity with TI Georgia and urged the ruling Georgian Dream party to withdraw these changes and repeal restrictive laws.