Mikheil Saakashvili

Georgian government "trying to gain favour with Orthodox Church"

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:57:38 +0100

When a prank video clip of Patriarch Ilia II (an important high Orthodox priest in Georgia) sounding off about President Mikheil Saakashvili emerged on YouTube on October 13, the nation was outraged. But so to was the government. As one of our Observers in Tbilisi explains, their strong reaction only highlights their weakness alongside the Orthodox Church.

On the same day that it was posted on YouTube, the video was picked up by Tea Tutberidze, an anarchist analyst from liberal think-tank Liberty, and posted on her Facebook page . Brought to the attention of the national media, the reaction was explosive. Many believed it to be a sneaky message from the authorities in response to comments made by Patriarch Ilia II a week earlier, when he criticised President Saakashvili for going to war with Russia in 2008.

However, the government immediately condemned the prank, and within just eight days had orchestrated the set up of an NGO called ‘Movement in Defence of our Honour'. Its sole purpose: "to defend the Patriarch's reputation". They also called in a number of people for questioning, including Ms Tutberidze, although she claimed to have posted the video as a way of denouncing it.

South Ossetia: "without the Russians we’d all be dead"

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:39:14 +0200

Russia has ordered an end to its military operation in South Ossetia, although a date has yet to be set for the withdrawal of Russian troops, which invaded the Georgian breakaway province on Friday. Our Observers in North Ossetia, South Ossetia and Georgia comment on the situation.

Democracy in Georgia goes under the knife online

Julien — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:11:00 +0100

“The authorities ignored the first demonstrations. Maybe they underestimated the event." (Tony, Tbilisi).

Material compiled by our Russian/former-USSR regional editor, Maria Antonova.

Tensions in Georgia reached boiling point on Wednesday 7 when President Mikhail Saakashvili declared a state of emergency following riot police clashes with demonstrators. The same day, the television station Imedi was shut down by the police for airing opposition speeches. Photos of the ransacked office are circulating online and bloggers are expressing their concerns about the presidents dictatorial moves.