Day: December 6, 2024

1. Georgian protesters detail brutal beatings by special forces  CNN
2. Four Scenarios for the Protests in Georgia  Foreign Policy
3. Opinion | The Georgia Protests Are Fueled by Fury  The New York Times
4. Fireworks light up pro-EU protests in Georgia  Reuters
5. Why are thousands of Georgians protesting day after day?  DW (English)
6. 48 detained in crackdown on pro-EU protests in Georgia  POLITICO Europe
7. Police in Georgia turn increasingly brutal as mass protests over ending EU talks enter second week  The Associated Press
8. Thousands of pro-EU protesters march on Georgia parliament  Le Monde
9. Georgians vow to continue pro-EU protests ‘until victory’  Euronews

On Friday, 6 December 2024, beginning around 1pm Baku local time, our newsroom lost contact with a number of individuals, some of whom who collaborate with Meydan TV.

While trying to reestablish contact, we learned that these individuals are currently being held at the Baku City Police Department. They are the following:

Khayala Agayeva / Xəyalə Ağayeva
Aytaj Ahmadova (Tapdig) / Aytac Əhmədova (Tapdıq)
Aynur Ganbarova (Elgunesh) / Aynur Qənbərova (Elgünəş)
Ramin Jabrayilzade (Deko) (independent journalist) / Ramin Cəbrayılzadə
Natig Javadli / Natiq Cavadlı
Aysel Umudova

The homes of some of the journalists named above were searched, and personal equipment and some of their belongings were seized.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ramin Jabrailzade (Deko) was detained based on information received regarding the illegal import of foreign currency into the country. In addition, several individuals were detained as part of the investigation. Ramin Deko works as an independent journalist and reporter.

We as the management of Meydan TV, firmly state that the detention and interrogation of our journalists is illegal, and we refute all accusations.

Since the day we started our activities over a decade ago, our brave journalists have been arrested, and they and their families have been subjected to persecution. Journalists who cooperate with us have been illegally banned from leaving the country, and have been surveilled by Pegasus spyware, among other forms of pressure.

Our website has been officially banned within the country’s borders since 2017, and Oor social media channels have repeatedly been subjected to cyberattacks.

Despite these attempts to silence us, we at Meydan TV have continued our work as journalists, publicized the events taking place in the country and the problems of ordinary citizens, and have done this all free of censorship.

Our goal has always been to be an independent and alternative media organization in Azerbaijan, informing our audience daily. The pressures and accusations against us since our establishment are groundless, and these novel attacks will neither silence us nor stop our work.

The post Meydan TV’s statement regarding latest arrests of journalists appeared first on MEYDAN.TV.

Antalya, Turkiye, has been awarded the prestigious “Tourist City D-8 2025” title by the Organization of Eight Developing Countries, Azernews reports.

Ossetian social media users have reacted strongly to the news that former Spartak-Alania football club striker Mikhail Kavelashvili may become the new president of Georgia.

Spartak-Alania is a North Ossetian (Vladikavkaz-ian) club, where Kavelashvili played as a forward, appearing in 24 matches and scoring 12 goals in 1995 (after the outbreak of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict). In 2004, Kavelashvili returned to Alania for another six-month stint. As a result, many Ossetians consider him, in some sense, “one of their own.”

Ex-footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili nominated as Georgian ruling party’s presidential candidate

Kavelashvili earli served as an MP for the ruling party in the previous parliament.

On November 27, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and honorary leader of the Georgian Dream party, announced that Mikhail Kavelashvili would run for president of Georgia as the party’s candidate.

The news was met with little enthusiasm in Georgia—both the opposition and civil society are currently eager to see the end of Georgian Dream’s rule and favor the incumbent president, Salome Zourabichvili.

The announcement of Kavelashvili’s candidacy quickly spread across Ossetian Telegram channels, sparking discussions on how this might theoretically impact the resolution of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.

One of the largest Telegram channels in North Ossetia dedicated a photo digest to Kavelashvili, detailing his career with Alania.

The comments on this post were divided.

Some believed that Ossetians should “cheer” for Kavelashvili:

“Ossetia votes for Kavelashvili!”

“He played for our Alania.”

“If he played for Alania, he probably understands and respects the Ossetian people.”

Others, on the contrary, saw no reason for optimism:

“It’s no surprise that such young people, especially football players, are allowed into power in Georgia. They’re not very educated and lack experience, making them easy to control. Either way, they have a strategy.”

Actually, Mikhail Kavelashvili is not particularly young for a president—he is 53 years old. However, he does indeed lack higher education, a fact that his critics in Georgia have pointed out with some sarcasm.

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• Leaders of the Georgian opposition on resolving the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts. Video
• How “Georgian Dream” is leveraging territorial integrity in its election campaign

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As for Ossetian politicians, their attitude toward Kavelashvili’s potential presidency is much more pragmatic. They fully consider the possibility that the Georgian authorities may try to use the former footballer as “soft power.”

One South Ossetian deputy, who wished to remain anonymous, believes that while “Georgian Dream” did not nominate Kavelashvili with the expectation of his “mediation” in negotiations with the Ossetians, the fact that he is well-known and remembered in North Ossetia should not be overlooked:

“In Vladikavkaz and Tskhinvali, he has quite a few connections with former Alania players who are now in the public sphere. It’s possible that the Georgian footballer may try to establish some kind of humanitarian contacts.”

“Without the Russians, we’d solve it ourselves.” Report from Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone villages

How do residents of Georgian villages near the conflict zone imagine the reconciliation of Georgians and Ossetians?

However, according to the deputy, no matter how good Kavelashvili’s relationships are with his former teammates, this will not significantly impact Georgian-Ossetian relations as a whole:

“This is a different generation. Today’s youth doesn’t know or remember the roster of the former Alania team as well. The influence will be minimal, but I think they (the Georgians) will try to use it.”

Meanwhile, Mikhail Kavelashvili has claimed that the Georgian opposition is allegedly “preparing serious provocations against South Ossetia and Abkhazia.”

The presidential elections in Georgia will take place on December 14, and will be the first in the country’s history in which the president will not be elected by the people, but by a special electoral body consisting of 300 members.

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The terms, toponyms, opinions, and ideas in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views and ideas of JAMnews or its individual employees. JAMnews reserves the right to delete any comments on publications that are deemed offensive, threatening, incite violence, or ethically unacceptable for other reasons.

At one time, the population of Antarctic blue whales numbered more than two hundred thousand individuals. Today, however, these majestic marine mammals are on the brink of extinction, with their population dwindling to a mere three hundred. Despite this dramatic decline, the whales continue to form a single population in the Southern Ocean, Azernews reports.

During the trial of Ali Karimli, the chairman of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AXCP), 12 party members were detained. Four of them – Elchin Hacivelli, Rovshan Asparov, Bakhtiyar Huseynov, and Mikayil Ismailov – were brought before the Nasimi District Court.

According to a statement from the party, these individuals were subjected to physical abuse while in police custody, with one reporting injuries such as a torn nail. Ali Karimli’s bodyguard, Ruslan Amirov, was also reportedly beaten, though his current whereabouts are unknown. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has not yet commented on the situation.

In a separate case, Ali Karimli was found guilty of defamation under Article 147.1 of the Criminal Code by the Nasimi District Court, which imposed a fine of 1,500 AZN. This decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by former AXCP member Aydin Aliyev, who had demanded a six-month prison sentence for Karimli.

Karimli has called the verdict politically motivated and has vowed to appeal. During the court proceedings, among those detained included prominent figures such as Vidadi Mirkamal and Ruslan Amirov. Some were released later, but details about the others remain unclear.

The conflict between Karimli and Aliyev dates back to 2019 when Aliyev was expelled from the party for his alleged opposition to its political course. Aliyev accused Karimli of defamation in media statements, which Karimli denied, asserting that his comments were truthful and consistent with his party’s stance.

The AXCP has described the entire legal process as a politically driven attempt to weaken the party and remove its leadership from political activity. The party’s statement claims that the government is using Aliyev, a former active member who later aligned himself with pro-government activities, as a tool to undermine Karimli and the AXCP.

The post AXCP Leader Ali Karimli Found Guilty of Defamation as Party Members Are Detained in Ongoing Political Struggle appeared first on MEYDAN.TV.

Revaz Kikvadze, an activist detained on December 6 for his participation in pro-EU demonstrations, handed over a letter from the detention center stating that he is being forced to testify in court that he received money and orders from opposition politicians. He states that he is being detained illegally and that he won’t make such statements in court that are not true, declaring hunger strike instead.

“I am writing this letter from the detention center. I am being held illegally. They asked me to lie and to name the people who allegedly financed me and whose orders I carried out. They asked me to name [Zurab] Japaridze, [Elene] Khoshtaria, [Nika] Gvaramia and others. I would not name them because there was no such thing. I declare a hunger strike. We will win this struggle together,” reads his letter.

The politicians Kiknadze is supposed to blame are Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the Droa party; Zurab Japaridze, leader of the Girchi More Freedom party; and Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Ahali party. All of these parties are currently united in the Coalition for Change, an opposition alliance, one of the four opposition forces that passed the 5% threshold in the October 26 elections.

On December 4 Nika Gvaramia was arrested by police while it was raiding the Coalition for Change office. On December 6, Tbilisi City court judge Koba Chagunava sentenced Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the opposition alliance Coalition for Change, to 12 days in prison on administrative charges of petty hooliganism (Article 166) and disobeying lawful police orders (Article 172).

The authorities have re-newed a repression campaign against opposition leaders and activists amidst the popular protests against the GD government U-turn on EU membership process.

The repressions against the opponents, “the collective United National Movement” that were to follow the GD victory, were announced by GD honorary chair Bidzina Ivanishvili during the pre-election campaign prior to the October 2024 elections.

He reiterated this promise, echoed by GD officials, on several occasions since, saying the GD needed the constitutional majority “to rid the country of this serious disease once and for all” and vowing to initiate the legal process after the elections to outlaw “all satellite and successor parties” of the UNM, which, in GD jargon, includes all opposition parties. He further promised to hold a “Nuremberg trial” for the opposition to deliver a “proper verdict to this bunch of politicians without a motherland, the network of foreign agents who are ready to sign any anti-state order.”

Also Read:

• 03/12/2024 – Watchdog Details “Inhuman and Degrading Treatment” Against Protesters by Police
• 03/12/2024 – Civil Society Foundation Calls for Immediate Stop to Police Violence
• 02/12/2024 – GYLA: Instead of Maintaining Law and Order, MIA Commits Crimes
• 01/12/2024 – CSOs: Physical Force Used Against Protesters Amounted to Torture

In recent years, the use of scented candles has become increasingly popular, but experts are warning about the potential health risks associated with these candles.

Registry of victims of protest dispersals in Georgia

Four Georgian opposition groups that surpassed the 5% threshold in parliamentary elections – the Coalition for Change, the United National Movement coalition, Strong Georgia, and the For Georgia party – are creating this registry, which will include detailed information on citizens injured during the dispersal of protests in Tbilisi, as well as on police officers who used violence against protesters.

How special forces beat protesters in Tbilisi: stories from those hospitalized

We share the stories and images of people who were brutally beaten, injured, and arrested at pro-European protests in Tbilisi

“We are working on creating a registry that will thoroughly document every victim and every perpetrator, with all the evidence included.

We will use this material to hold all guilty parties accountable under international criminal law, from which they will not be able to escape. Every responsible party will face the strictest possible consequences.

We will also ensure that citizens receive swift and professional legal assistance to cope with the pressure of the self-proclaimed illegitimate regime,” said Ana Natsvlishvili, one of the leaders of the Strong Georgia coalition.

‘Russian puppet’: U.S. Senate considers using Magnitsky Act against Ivanishvili to address Georgia crisis

“Russians control Ivanishvili. They tell him: ‘You earned your money through dubious means; we can take it all away.’ Therefore, he actively assists them”

A massive wave of protests has erupted in Georgia after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced on November 28 that the country would officially suspend negotiations on joining the European Union until 2028.

Every night, protests are held in Tbilisi in front of the parliament building. The police have been attempting to disperse the demonstrators using water cannons, tear gas, and by beating and detaining them.