Category Archives: Georgia

Georgia claims police not using Signal to message about ‘Cop City’, despite evidence to contrary

Posted on by

Defense attorney in conspiracy case cites Guardian reporting in seeking police messages on activists opposed to training center

Georgia’s deputy attorney general said in court that he didn’t think police in the state were using Signal to communicate about the law enforcement training center colloquially known as “Cop City” – despite being presented, in a motion from defense attorneys, with evidence from the Guardian of law enforcement leadership ordering officers to download the encrypted phone app last year for that very purpose.

Defense attorneys have been seeking the Signal messages from Atlanta police and other law enforcement agencies that may be relevant to their clients’ cases from the deputy attorney general, John Fowler, since February, according to their 15 March motion.

Continue reading...

Georgia will allow Trump to challenge order keeping Fani Willis on election interference case

Posted on by

Appeals court said it would allow Trump to challenge decision not to disqualify Willis over relationship with her deputy

The Georgia state court of appeals on Wednesday said it would consider an appeal from Donald Trump of an order allowing Fani Willis, the district attorney, to continue prosecuting his election interference case in Fulton county.

In a one-page order, the appeals court said it would allow Trump to challenge the decision not to disqualify Willis over her relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired to lead the Trump case. Scott McAfee, the trial judge overseeing the case, ruled in March that Willis could stay on the case as long as Wade resigned. Wade subsequently resigned the same day McAfee issued his decision.

Continue reading...

‘I’m in awe of our young people and their courage in the face of arrests and teargas’

Posted on by

The Georgian government’s bid to pass Russia-style law has met spirited opposition, mostly from young people keen to lean towards Europe

The finale of Beethoven’s “revolutionary” fifth symphony was met with deafening applause at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Tbilisi last Thursday night. The cheers grew into a powerful expression of solidarity with the protests outside on Rustaveli Avenue.

People hung EU flags from the theatre’s balconies and shouted, “No to the Russian Law! Europe! Georgia [Sa-kar-tve-lo]!”

Continue reading...

Europe live: EU warns Georgia ‘foreign agents’ bill threatens its chances to join bloc

Posted on by

Bill has raised concern country is moving away from democratic norms and closer to Moscow

Nicolas Schmit, the Socialists’ lead candidate in the European elections, said he is “deeply concerned” by the violence in Tbilisi.

In a statement late yesterday, the US state department said Georgia’s western trajectory is at risk.

Use of force to suppress peaceful assembly and freedom of speech is unacceptable, and we urge authorities to allow non-violent protesters to continue to exercise their right to freedom of expression.

Continue reading...

Georgian police fire teargas as huge ‘foreign agents’ bill protests rock Tbilisi – as it happened

Posted on by

Masked police also used water cannon and stun grenades against rally protesting over legislation viewed as authoritarian and Russian-inspired

Michael Roth, chairman of the German Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, has called on Georgia’s leadership to stop the violence and withdraw the foreign agents bill.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said today that he “strongly” condemns violence against protesters and said use of force is “unacceptable.”

Continue reading...

Georgia condemned for crackdown on protesters opposing ‘foreign agents’ bill

Posted on by

EU leads calls for halt to escalating violence after police use water cannon, teargas and stun grenades against demonstrators

Western politicians and diplomats have called for a halt to spiralling violence in Georgia after security forces used water cannon, teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to break up a peaceful rally against a “foreign influence” bill overnight.

The EU, which has granted Georgia candidate status, “strongly condemned” the violence and called on the government to respect the right of peaceful assembly. “Use of force to suppress it is unacceptable,” foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on X.

Continue reading...

‘Like a war zone’: Emory University grapples with fallout from police response to protest

Posted on by

A peaceful action at the school near Atlanta, Georgia, was met with violent use of force and 28 arrests of students and faculty

Clifton Crais, a history professor, was walking to class at Emory University in Decatur, Georgia, outside Atlanta, on Thursday shortly before 10am when several students rushed up to him.

“Please, please contact president Fenves,” they begged, referring to the university president, Gregory Fenves. “Ask him to not call the police.” Several dozen protesters seeking the university’s divestment from Israel and opposing a $109m police training center colloquially known as “Cop City” had set up tents on the school’s grassy quad – the size of a football field – several hours before.

Continue reading...

Columbia University calls for inquiry into leadership as student protests sweep 40 campuses

Posted on by

Professors at Emory University arrested as campuses follow Columbia’s lead in demanding ceasefire and divestment

At least 40 pro-Palestine protest camps have arisen across US campuses following Columbia University’s example earlier this month, as the New York school’s senate called for an investigation into its leadership, the New York Times reported.

While many remain provocative though peaceful, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment by their institutions from companies with ties to Israel, hundreds of students and outside protesters have been arrested, and there have been some fierce clashes with police.

Continue reading...

Armenian PM defends decision to give four villages to Azerbaijan

Posted on by

Nikol Pashinyan urges calm after making concessions in attempt to avoid war with his country’s heavily armed neighbour

Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister facing four days of protests against his decision to hand four villages to Azerbaijan, has urged Armenians to recognise that the way the issue is handled will determine the viability of the future peace process with its neighbour.

In an interview with British journalists in his office, Pashinyan, the leader of Armenia’s velvet revolution in 2018, said the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan “need to convert the theoretical peace agenda into an actual peaceful reality”.

Continue reading...

Exclusive: Georgia lawmaker runs secret election-conspiracy Telegram channel

Posted on by

Bridget Thorne, a Republican elected in Fulton county in 2022, has spread election fraud lies and accused county employees of crimes

A Fulton county commissioner in Georgia has been operating a private Telegram channel for years, propagating debunked claims about the 2020 election, and spreading accusations of crimes by county employees, including Ruby Freeman, an election worker defamed by Rudy Giuliani in the wake of Donald Trump’s 2020 loss.

Bridget Thorne, a Republican representing the relatively conservative cities of Fulton county north of Atlanta, indirectly identifies herself as the creator and administrator of the Fulton County Elections channel on Telegram, a mobile messaging platform, in multiple posts to its page. The channel uses the official logo of the Fulton county board of registration and elections.

Continue reading...

Georgia footballers protest against Tbilisi’s ‘foreign influence’ bill

Posted on by

Captain of national men’s team among those posting apparently coordinated social media messages

Leading players in Georgia’s national men’s football team have backed mass protests sparked by a “foreign influence” bill criticised for mirroring a repressive Russian law.

Riot police have clashed in recent nights with large rallies of people protesting outside the parliament building in Tbilisi against the bill, which is viewed in Brussels as a threat to future EU membership.

Continue reading...

MPs in Georgia agree draft of ‘repressive’ foreign agents bill amid protests

Posted on by

Legislation is seen as similar to an anti-democratic Russian law and Brussels has said it would undermine hopes of EU membership

Georgian lawmakers have agreed an early draft of a controversial “foreign influence” bill, sparking fresh street protests against the legislation criticised for mirroring a repressive Russian law.

The bill has sparked outrage in Georgia and concern in the west, with many arguing it undermines Georgia’s bid for EU membership.

Continue reading...

Georgian MP punches opponent in face in brawl over ‘foreign agents’ bill

Posted on by

Incident in which Mamuka Mdinaradze was struck by Aleko Elisashvili prompts fight between legislators

Georgian politicians have come to blows in parliament as ruling party legislators looked to advance a controversial bill on “foreign agents” that has been criticised by western countries and prompted protests at home.

Footage broadcast on Monday on Georgian television showed Mamuka Mdinaradze, leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s parliamentary faction and a driving force behind the bill, being punched in the face by the opposition MP Aleko Elisashvili while speaking from the dispatch box.

Continue reading...

Rico Wade, key figure in Atlanta hip-hop scene, dies aged 52

Posted on by

Tributes paid to music producer who helped write TLC’s Waterfalls and worked on albums by OutKast and CeeLo Green

Rico Wade, one of the architects of Atlanta’s “dirty south” hip-hop sound, who co-produced albums by OutKast, Goodie Mob and CeeLo Green and who co-wrote TLC’s 1994 hit Waterfalls, has died. He was 52.

Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens paid tribute to Wade, saying he had “led in the creation of a hip-hop sound that has spanned decades and genres. Rico left an indelible mark on music and culture around the world and for that, the south will always have something to say.”

Continue reading...

Five Georgia students rescue a woman and her two children from drowning car

Posted on by

The Kappa Alpha Theta members jumped into action to save Cori Craft and her two sons after their SUV veered off into a creek

With her two sons accompanying her, Cori Craft had just accidentally driven her SUV into a creek in rural Georgia, and she couldn’t find her phone to summon help as the car rapidly sank.

Thoughts that she and her family could soon drown started to flood her mind. But then she heard a voice call out and ask if she was OK. Her reply that she was not OK was the only thing five college sorority members needed to hear to work together to pull Craft and her boys out – and then resuscitate one of the children by performing CPR on him.

Continue reading...

Judge rejects Trump attempt to toss classified documents case with caveats

Posted on by

Trump’s Presidential Records Act argument could be resurrected at trial even as the judge denied his motion to dismiss

The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents denied his effort to have the case dismissed on the contention that the Presidential Records Act allowed him to transform them as personal property and possess them at his Mar-a-Lago club.

The ruling by US district judge Aileen Cannon was significant as it struck one of Trump’s main defenses and suggested the case is headed to trial.

Continue reading...

Trump appeals ruling letting Fani Willis stay on election interference case

Posted on by

Attorneys for ex-president and eight co-defendants ask Georgia’s appellate court to remove Fulton county district attorney

Donald Trump’s legal team on Friday sought to overturn a Fulton county, Georgia, judge’s decision allowing Fani Willis to continue as prosecutor of that state’s election interference case against the former president.

“[T]he indictment should have been dismissed and, at a minimum, [District Attorney] Willis and her office should have been disqualified from prosecuting the case,” Trump’s attorney Steve Sadow said, in part, in the appeal filed on Friday to an appellate court in Georgia.

Continue reading...

Fani Willis can stay on Trump Georgia case as judge criticizes ‘lapse in judgment’

Posted on by

Judge Scott McAfee allows Fulton county district attorney to continue as long as special prosecutor Nathan Wade resigns

A judge in Georgia has ruled that the district attorney Fani Willis can continue to head the prosecution of Donald Trump for trying to undermine the 2020 presidential election in the state, as long as a top deputy agreed to step down.

The deputy, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom Willis had a romantic relationship, resigned on Friday, clearing the way for Willis to continue.

Continue reading...

Full live results of the 2024 presidential primaries, state by state

Posted on by

Full state-by-state results as well as votes of Democrats abroad and in the Northern Mariana territory

Georgia, Mississippi and Washington chose their presidential candidates on Tuesday in contests that come as both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are already their parties’ presumptive nominees.

Hawaii also held its Republican caucuses on Tuesday and Democrats abroad and in the Northern Mariana territory voted as well.

Continue reading...

Atlanta Police Foundation ignored records requests about role in Cop City, lawsuit claims

Posted on by

University of Georgia filed complaint on behalf of news outlet and transparency research organization, saying queries unanswered

A law clinic at the University of Georgia has sued the Atlanta Police Foundation, after the non-profit organization repeatedly ignored records requests from journalists and researchers about its role in backing the controversial police-training center opponents have dubbed Cop City.

The complaint, filed on behalf of the digital news outlet Atlanta Community Press Collective and the Chicago-based digital transparency research organization Lucy Parsons Labs, details how numerous queries to the foundation under Georgia’s Open Records Act have not been answered.

Continue reading...