PM’s Scandal & more– 14th Sep 2023

Gamarjobat from Sant Gervasi! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 14th of September twenty twenty-three, sorry we are once again a teensy bit late this week. This is a quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Saturday the 9th, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and his family took a trip to the United States. He decided to use a government plane. People on social media said Garibashvili used a state plane for personal purposes, which of course he did. However, Nino Giorgobiani, from the government's Strategic Communications department, said on social media that the PM flew to the US but that “no state money was spent.”

Still, the government later changed its story and said that Garibashvili had taken a charter flight to Europe, followed by a regular flight to the US. Investigative journalists revealed that Georgian Airways operated the flight to Europe. Anzor Chubinidze, Head of the Special State Protection Service, stated that Tariel Garibashvili, Garibashvili's father, paid 34,000 euros or 36,500 dollars for his son’s trip to the US via Munich, so I guess they didn’t use Skyscanner. However, the Prime Minister's travel costs remain undisclosed. The government denying that state money was involved in the journey, nobody believes them, unless of course when everybody started talking about it, some very rich guy said, Oh…OK, I’ll reimburse the budget so the expense can disappear.

The opposition expressed skepticism over Garibashvili's father funding the trip, saying that, according to official documents, the PM’s parents are retired, and cannot afford such expensive flights. Civil Society Organizations in Georgia demanded an inquiry into Garibashvili’s use of state-owned aircraft for personal purposes. The opposition party Lelo has begun a consultation process with other opposition groups regarding the possibility of impeaching the Prime Minister over allegations of personal use of state resources.

More visits. On Thursday the 7th, Josep Borell, the EU High Representative, visited Georgia. He met with President Salome Zourabichvili, Prime Minister Garibasvili, Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili, and NGO people to discuss Georgia's EU integration path. In a press conference with Garibashvili, Borrell said Georgia should keep working on the EU's twelve requirements. He said that Georgia fulfilled only three of them as of June. Borrell also said that Georgian Dream's or Otsneba's impeachment process of President Zourabichvili could further increase the counterproductive polarization. He said that all country institutions have to work together, on the European path. Lastly, Borrell said extremely clearly for an EU official that the idea, promulgated directly and persistently by Otsneba and senior government officials, that the West wants Georgia to be a second front for Russia along with Ukraine, is both inaccurate and idiotic. He didn’t us that word but the point was pretty clear.

On Monday the 11th, Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili announced that Chinese citizens would no longer require a visa to stay in the country for up to thirty days. Davitashvili said he wanted to increase the number of daily flights from China to at least ten, as this would positively impact the domestic economy. He also emphasized that China has the largest tourist market in the world, and every country wants to get into it. Keep in mind that almost all of Georgia’s economic growth is because of Russians putting money into Georgia, but that migration has slowed. So maybe the idea is to do the same with China. Hm.

Now, The European Court of Human Rights’ decision on Nika Melia’s case.

On Thursday, the 7th, the ECHR delivered its verdict on the case of Nika Melia, the former Chairman of the United National Movement or Natsebi, related to his arrest in twenty nineteen. For some context, authorities arrested Melia for clearly political reasons four years ago for organizing and participating in group violence during the June twenty nineteen rallies outside the Parliament, famously known as Gavrilov's Night. These protests erupted when Russian communist MP Sergei Gavrilov addressed in Russian the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy from the Speaker's seat in Parliament. In June twenty twenty, Melia obtained his release on a 30,000 lari bail —around 12,000 US dollars. The court ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring tag, notify law enforcement before leaving home, and refrain from making public statements in public spaces and communicating with witnesses. The ECHR declared that Melia's detention did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights.

Next up, Zourabichvili’s consultations with opposition parties.

On Monday the 11th, President Salome Zurabishvili met with opposition parties to discuss Georgia's EU integration and concerns about Otsneba's policies. Members of the opposition stressed the importance of Georgia's EU candidate status and disagreed with Otsneba's impeachment procedure against the President. Zourabichvili said she would continue holding consultations with political representatives of different parties.

More on the deadly Shovi landslide.

On Sunday, the 10th, the Emergency Management Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that rescue teams found another body in Racha, in the bed of the Chan-chakhi River. According to the statement, in Oni district, search and rescue operations in the area continue. Rescue teams found thirty-two bodies in the disaster zone, and will keep searching for one missing person.

Speaking of natural disasters…

On Friday, the 8th, The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that heavy rains caused landslides and flooding in Guria, resulting in three fatalities and damaging infrastructure, including houses, bridges, and roads connecting villages. Aleksandre Sarishvili, the mayor of Lanchkhuti, said, landslides had hit several villages of the Choch-khati community, destroying at least ten houses. During the several days of heavy rains, the Emergency Management Service received over 100 reports on damages that flooding caused in the Guria and Adjara regions.

Next up, mass drug dealing arrests.

On Tuesday the 12th, the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested forty-six individuals in different regions of Georgia on drug charges. The Ministry said that the detainees belong to various national backgrounds, including citizens of Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Egypt, Nigeria, Iran, Yemen, and Jordan. According to the Ministry’s statement, detainees face sentences that range from twenty years to life imprisonment.

In some regional news…

On Monday the 11th, the Ministry of Infrastructure said it was implementing large-scale infrastructure projects in Bakuriani with Government and World Bank financing. The total investment is twenty-five million laris, around ten million US dollars. The works include the development of tourist infrastructure and the rehabilitation of streets and buildings. According to the statement, the Bakuriani Central Recreational Park will have eight hectares of sports, cultural and recreational zones.

On Monday the 11th, Prime Minister Garibashvili announced that five thousand top students in universities nationwide would receive a doubled monthly scholarship of 300 laris, around 110 US dollars, from the state. Garibashvili also mentioned that the International Education Center, a government-established entity in twenty fourteen, gave over a thousand Georgian students full scholarships to attend the world's best universities abroad.

On Sunday the 10th, during an event to celebrate the Day of the Energy Engineer, Romeo Mikoutadze, Deputy Minister of Economy, talked about the Black Sea submarine cable project that will benefit Georgia and Eastern Europe. An eleven-hundred-kilometer or 700-mile-long electricity cable, with over a thousand-megawatt power, will connect the electricity systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary. Mikautadze said that negotiations with various financial institutions will begin after finishing the feasibility study in about two months. He said the project would enable Georgia's energy independence, increase its electricity transit potential, and attract investments.

On Monday the 11th, The Culture Ministry said that starting next week The Anzor Erkomaishvili State Folklore Center would organize the International Folklore Festival 'Sakartvelo,' a four-day celebration of folk performing arts in Tbilisi and the southern municipality of Akhaltsikhe. The festival will take place at the open-air location of Akhaltsikhe Castle and will showcase local folklore, architecture, and cuisine, providing an immersive cultural experience. According to the statement, ensembles from Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Finland will join the event.

We end this week’s show with the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

On Tuesday the 12th, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group or ECR in the European Parliament nominated the pro-European people of Georgia and Nino Lomjaria, former Public Defender of Georgia, for the twenty twenty-three Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. ECR MEP Anna Foty-ga, who sponsored the nomination, said that Georgians deserve respect and recognition. The entire ECR Group supports Georgia's quest for freedom and unity with the West. Fotyga said that Nino Lomjaria has made an invaluable contribution to their country's democracy and Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

Tell people you know about us, your family, your friends, your work buddies, anyone you think might be interested in our udpdates! Tell them to hit the subscribe button!

Remember you can always financially support us using the link in the show notes.

Nakhvamdis!