Azerbaijan and Chinese company agree to co-develop green energy Trend News Agency
Day: June 26, 2025
Georgia passes freedom of speech law amendments
Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has unanimously passed amendments to the Law on Freedom of Speech and Expression in the first reading. One provision states that the 100-day statute of limitations for filing defamation claims will apply retroactively to statements made before the law takes effect.
In addition, the bill significantly restricts freedom of expression by shifting the burden of proof in defamation cases onto the defendant and removing several legal protections previously granted to journalists and other individuals.
The amendments also revise the definition of defamation to mean a statement that contains a substantially false fact and damages a person’s reputation.
Under the current version of the law, defamation is defined as a statement that contains a substantially false fact, causes harm to a person, and damages their reputation.
The new law will apply to both personal and public insults.
Davit Matikashvili, Georgian Dream MP:
“After consultations with Deputy Speaker Tea Tsulukiani and other colleagues, we agreed it would be appropriate to include a transitional provision in the legislation. The law states that a person has the right to file a defamation claim within 100 days from the date the false information was disseminated, or from the date the claimant became aware of it. The transitional clause will allow for statements made prior to the law’s entry into force to be considered under the new rules, provided the statute of limitations has not expired.
For example, if the law takes effect on 1 August, the 100-day limitation period will still apply to statements made before that date. If someone believes that a statement made on 1 July is defamatory or damaging to their honour and dignity, and no lawsuit was filed previously, they will be able to file the claim after the law comes into force under the new terms. Accordingly, the burden of proof will lie with the person who disseminated the information, not the claimant.”
Georgia passes freedom of speech law amendments
Categories
YouTube
US senators on Georgian Dream
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Roger Wicker, Chair of the US Helsinki Commission and the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a joint statement saying that the ruling Georgian Dream party is seeking to consolidate power through anti-democratic actions.
The senators noted that they were making this statement “following reports that Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau, on dubious legal grounds, requested detailed information from the non-governmental sector, including on human rights activities.”
US senators’ statement
“The Georgian Dream (GD) government is moving aggressively to consolidate power by silencing independent voices in anti-democratic moves reminiscent of the Lukashenka regime in Belarus.
The scope of the information requested from civil society is likely illegal, but also so vast that it will certainly lead to non-compliance.
GD’s actions, understood to be directed by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, aim to paralyze the important work of groups including Civil Society Foundation, the Economic Policy Research Center, TI Georgia, Sapari, Future Academy, Media Development Foundation and the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED).
In addition, GD has accelerated its crackdown on political opposition this week, arresting and sentencing several pro-democracy leaders on politically motivated charges.
Simply put, democratic governments should not view organizations supporting independent media, combatting Kremlin propaganda, fighting corruption or supporting women and youth to be threats.
Just as these groups will protect the personal data of Georgian citizens and whistleblowers from government overreach, we will use our voices and legislation to stand with them.
To that end, we support advancing the bipartisan MEGOBARI Act as soon as the Senate calendar will allow.”
On 24 June, the US State Department expressed deep concern over the arrests of opposition politicians in Georgia and the persecution of individuals criticising the Georgian Dream government.
As State Department officials told the press service of Formula TV, Ivanishvili’s government is using legal amendments against its critics, thereby restricting freedom of expression.
Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application (DS-160) Apply For a Nonimmigrant Visa. Tooltip Language: English [View Tool Tip Help] Most of this application has been translated. To see the translation point your mouse over any sentence on the page. Welcome! The first step in applying for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa is to complete your application. …
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has earmarked more than ten specific investment projects worth at least $3.5 billion for the period 2025–2028, aimed at fully realizing the potential of the Middle Corridor trade and transport route, Azernews reports, citing Yevgeniy Zhukov, Director of the Central and West Asia Department at ADB, during a panel discussion held in Beijing at the annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
https://t.co/6YYcXeKipe#Armenia at a Crossroads: Revanchist Plot Unravels as #Pashinyan Consolidates Power #PoliticalCrisis #SouthCaucasus #ChurchAndState #Geopolitics #ArmenianPolitics
— Today.Az (@TodayAz97) June 26, 2025