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Compiled by Sopo Datishvili
Thursday, February 5
Greek youths found guilty of murdering 11-year-old Georgian

Sakartvelos Respublika reports that a widely-discussed court case, in which five youths of Greek origin had been accused of murdering Georgian Alexi Meskhishvili in Veria, has concluded with all five being found guilty.

Two of the sentenced were sent to the juvenile colony and the other three sentenced to community service and required to attend educational courses. Another young person convicted of giving false testimony and another who protected his brother, were handed to social welfare workers.

The court questioned more than a hundred witnesses over the course of six months. It was established that the young people had an argument with Alexi Meskhishvili, part of their group of friends, in the street, and beat him up. Meskhishvili rolled down some stone stairs while trying to escape from his aggressors and received a fatal trauma of the head.

Despite the long investigation, Meskhishvili’s body has not been found. The murderers confessed to hiding the body and then taking it to the river by wheelbarrow.



Georgian-Abkhazian album

A book dedicated to Georgian-Abkhazian relations will soon be published, 24 Saati reports. As its author Paata Kurdovanidze has stated, it will chronicle the relations between Georgian and Abkhazian statesmen of the 19th and first twenty years of the 20th century, and include unique photo materials concerning these.

“State archive materials and some from Georgian and Abkhazian families have been included in the book. Some of these are already familiar to society but some are new”, said Kurdovanidze.

One of the features of the album is that it gives not only the biographies of the statesmen but recollections of their family members. This material is very interesting for anyone studying the relations between Georgians and Abkhazians.



All regions must be equal, says Tkeshelashvili

Sakartvelos Respublika reports that Davit Tkeshelashvili, the candidate for Minister of Regional Government and Infrastructure, has said that improving local government is his major priority. He announced this at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration and Diaspora Issues, at which Parliament’s confidence in the new Government team and civil plans were discussed.

Davit Tkeshelashvili said that his priority is to achieve a balance of infrastructural development in different regions instead of caring about one particular region.



Turkish fishermen accused of poaching

Sakartvelos Respublika reports that Georgian fishermen are accusing Turkish fleets of poaching. They claim the Turks are catching fish in Georgian waters with forbidden equipment, which does not meet accepted standards and kills the fish.

Until now fishermen have worked without any problem in a zone opened by the Georgian President himself. They say however that if the Turkish don’t stop poaching, they will soon lose their livelihoods. They suggest that a corrupt arrangement may have been made between some Georgians and Turks, as they have even informed the Ministry of the Environment about the problem but nothing has been done.