The law, now passed, which places restrictions on organisations with overseas funding, will damage civil society, say critics
Georgia’s controversial “foreign agents” bill was approved this week by the country’s parliament, despite massive street protests and criticism from western governments.
A violent crackdown on protesters and government critics has elicited widespread condemnation inside and outside the country.
Continue reading...Georgia PM GeorIrakli Kobakhidze pushes back against sanctions threat; Heroes Square blocked by demonstrators after controversial ‘foreign agents’ bill passes. This blog is now closed.
Petre Tsiskarishvili, a secretary-general of the main opposition United National Movement and a former Georgian MP, said the election in October election is when the Georgian public should “basically go on a referendum” and make a final decision which way we want to go, the BBC reported.
“What is the aspiration of the Georgian people? Is it the European integration or these Russia style laws and this government that initiates and tables the legislation that copies the Russian style authoritarianism.”
Continue reading...Official suggests US funding could be pulled as new ‘Kremlin-inspired’ law provokes mass protests
Georgia has been warned by the US not to become an adversary of the west by falling back in line with Moscow, as its parliament defied mass street protests to pass a “Kremlin-inspired” law.
Washington’s assistant secretary of state, Jim O’Brien, spoke of his fears that the passing by Georgia’s parliament of a “foreign agents” bill on Tuesday could be yet another “turning point” in the former Soviet state’s troubled history.
Continue reading...As draft law described by the US as ‘Kremlin-inspired’ nears its final vote, opposition and youth groups say they will keep defending civil liberties
As the “foreign influence” bill was being nodded through the Georgian parliament’s legal committee at 9am on Monday, a wet and tired Zviad Tsetskhladze, 18, and Luka Natsvlishvili, 17, were among thousands of protesters left with little option other than to shout chants at a grim wall of riot police.
An overnight vigil designed to block the governing party’s MPs from accessing the parliamentary estate had failed. Meanwhile, the opposition leader in the parliament, Tina Bokuchava, 40, had barely made it past the entrance of the imposing stone building. Her colleagues on the committee only got as far as the corridor outside.
Continue reading...Josep Borrell reiterates concern about situation in Georgia, where pro-western protesters have continued to face a violent crackdown
Amid all the noise over the Socialist (PSC) victory and the mooted end of “el procés”, it’s worth looking at the performance of the Citizens party, which was once the great hope of the centre-right.
Although it finished first in the snap election that followed the independence crisis in December 2017, Citizens lost all its six seats last night and the party is now on the verge of extinction.
Continue reading...US says parliamentarians must choose between Kremlin-style laws or Euro-Atlantic democratic path
An estimated 50,000 people marched peacefully in heavy rain in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Saturday night after the US said parliamentarians had to choose between Kremlin-style laws or the Euro-Atlantic democratic path they had embarked upon.
The march was the latest in a series of public protests against a “foreign agents” bill that would require media and commercial organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from outside the country to register as “agents of foreign influence”.
Continue reading...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...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...