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    15/09/2025 - 15:23

    Simon Leviev, Known as ‘Tinder Swindler’, Detained in Batumi on Interpol Red Notice

    Simon Leviev, an Israeli national born Shimon Hayut and widely known as the “Tinder Swindler,” was detained at Batumi Airport on an Interpol red notice, Georgia’s Interior Ministry confirmed to Civil.ge on September 15. Leviev gained international notoriety after the 2022 Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler, which alleged that he posed as the heir to a wealthy diamond family and defrauded women he met on the popular dating app Tinder. Victims accused him of extracting…
    15/09/2025 - 13:45

    Update: Elene Khoshtaria Detained Amid Criminal Probe on ‘Damaging’ Kaladze Banners

    Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the opposition Droa party, was detained on September 15 amid a criminal probe launched against her after she wrote protest messages on Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze’s campaign banners in solidarity with Megi Diasamidze, an activist facing prosecution on similar allegations. Droa party released a video showing a group of what looked like plainclothed men – presumably police officers – escorting her in a car from her home. Police opened the probe…
    14/09/2025 - 00:42

    Court Sends UNM’s Khabeishvili to Pretrial Detention, Sets Bail for Zodelava

    Tbilisi City Court placed opposition United National Movement (UNM) politician Levan Khabeishvili in pretrial detention and set bail for another party member, Murtaz Zodelava, who will be released upon posting GEL 25,000 (about USD 9,300). Judge Pikria Sikturashvili announced the decision on September 13, after prosecutors added a coup incitement charge to Khabeishvili’s initial bribery count, following his arrest by the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) on September 11. Levan Khabeishvili was arrested for…

    Years in Review

      Dispatch 2024 | Year of Fireworks

      In what has become a tradition, new years in Georgia begin before January 1. The year 2023 began on December 29, 2022, when People’s Power, the far-right offshoot of Georgian Dream, first announced that it would introduce a law on foreign agents. And 2024 started on December 30, 2023, when Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili – two weeks after Georgia was granted the long-awaited EU candidate status – ominously announced his comeback to formal politics in what would become a harbinger of many other unfortunate returns.  Now, as 2024 draws to a close, what is the event that will inaugurate 2025? Is it sanctioning Ivanishvili on the anniversary of his third coming? Or the departure of President Zurabishvili from her residence into a broader resistance? Or Georgian Dream Mikheil Kavelashvili enacting a myriad of repressive laws on the day of his widely boycotted inauguration? Or whatever will happen on the announced New Year’s Eve protest night on December 31?  With only a few hours to go before the end of the most endless year, there is a feeling that something could still happen to turn the context of the ever-shacking country upside down. And while we are holding our breath, …

      Dispatch 2023 | Bracing for Chaos

      To get a sense of how 2023 went in Georgia, go to Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue. The street has witnessed many highs and lows of independent Georgia and has stayed busy for the past twelve months. Countless shining stars – all blue and gold – covering the main thoroughfare reveal the year’s happy endings. The crowds around the Parliament bring back the memories of numerous massive gatherings – in the same place, but for different reasons. The EU flags proudly displayed on the parliament building take us to times when their absence would stir controversies. Occasional startling noise from explosives and fireworks only reminds us that there used to be more of it, showing the silent change activism can bring. A giant panda figure, awkwardly trying to fit in front of the Christmas tree, hints at all foreign policy uncertainties that Georgia brings into 2024. And then, behind the Christmas tree, there is a cross. The cross, once put there by violent crowds, stands untouched to warn how destructive faith can be when it’s misused – and perhaps also how the greatest perils still lurk behind the trees. As 2023 nears its end, Georgia says goodbye to another rollercoaster year. …

      Dispatch 2022 | Farewell to Masks

      As we slowly roll into the new year, the ending of 2022 in Georgia does not appear to be much different from last December: the country is caught in the continued polarization, with a renewed spotlight on the health of its jailed ex-President; economic hunger here again meets the political one for change; and the blaring horns of traffic jams in Tbilisi scream public discontent. As the music from Christmas celebrations drowns out all unhappy noises for a while, the eternal discussions resurface about the right date to mark Christmas, to best fit our religious, pragmatic, and – most importantly – geopolitical preferences.  And yet, Georgia is bidding farewell to a year that shook us with unthinkable developments with lasting and dramatic impact. In 2022, one global crisis followed another, and Georgia found itself at the center (isn’t it always at the center?) of all new chaos and new opportunities. But all these new things got lodged in older, firmly fixed local narratives and patterns of thought and action. Nini is back to the Dispatch to conclude 2022, review its highlights, and outline the trends to watch for in the coming year. Farewell to Masks, Hello to Arms THE VIRUS …

      Dispatch 2021 | Pandemic and Tumult

      In Georgia, 2021 was a tumultuous year of continued and new crises, but also a year of attempted solutions, many of them with no success and some of them still underway. The year of memorable departures and arrivals, 2021 was of deals sealed and unsealed, unprecedented attacks against media, alleged surveillance leaks, and ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, to name a few. The past 12 months also saw an unusual impact of collective actions. Below are some of the most remarkable moments and trends that unfolded over the outgoing year. Ivanishvili Quitting Politics, Again Bidzina Ivanishvili, a Georgian billionaire who founded the Georgian Dream and shortly served as a Prime Minister in 2012-2013, was still the ruling party chairperson as 2021 arrived. But early in January, he stated about quitting politics for good, including giving up his party membership. Days later, he also stated about handing a significant part of his assets to Cartu Foundation, a charity organization he founded. His departure met skepticism for it was not his first time doing so. But Ivanishvili largely remained in shadows for the rest of the year, even though government critics mainly attributed the ruling party’s decisions to its reclusive founder.   Gakharia Leaves, …
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