The News in Brief
Thursday, December 8
Vashadze delivers a speech at OSCE Ministerial
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigol Vashadze delivered a speech at the OSCE Ministerial held in Vilnius Tuesday. Vashadze reported on the situation in Georgia`s occupied territories, emphasizing the process of militarization of the separatist regions by Russia and numerous human rights violations.
`Along with the OSCE issues, we paid great attention to the situation in the region and Georgia-Russia relations. It should be underlined that each member of the European Union hailed the huge progress of Georgia on its way to the European Union,` Vashadze told journalists after the ministerial.
Grigol Vashadze held bilateral meetings with colleagues from Germany, Azerbaijan and Lithuania. (Rustavi 2)
Moscow police releases Rustavi 2 cameraman
Moscow police has released the cameraman hired by Rustavi 2, who was detained while covering opposition protests on Tuesday night. The cameraman was released after paying a 500 ruble fine.
Over 500 protestors were arrested both in Moscow and Petersburg late last night - the demonstrations began after Sunday`s parliamentary elections in which the ruling party claimed victory. The protestors condemned the results of the elections and the regime of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. All prominent activists of the opposition were arrested, Boris Nemtsov was among them, however, he was released after a few hours of detention.
Human rights defender Lev Ponomarov, leader of the party Yabloko Sergei Mitrokhin, other opposition figures Anatoli Baranov, Mikhail Shneider, Eduard Limonov and Elena Kostiuchenko will face 15-day sentences and 1,000 ruble fines.
Several thousand special task officers were controlling the situation on the central square in Moscow Tuesday.
A Moscow court has already sent famous blogger Aleksei Navalni into custody for 15 days. (Rustavi 2)
Europe condemns Russian elections
The European Union`s foreign policy chief said she was seriously concerned about media bias and the harassment of independent monitoring during Sunday`s parliamentary election in Russia.
Catherine Ashton said in a statement on Tuesday that she took note of the fact that the Duma election was well-prepared and administered.
`Reports of procedural violations, such as lack of media impartiality, lack of separation between party and state, and the harassment of independent monitoring attempts, are however of serious concern,` she said.
She also expressed the hope that the issues raised in preliminary findings would be addressed when Russia holds a presidential election in March.
The president of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek has also disapproved of the conduct of the parliamentary elections in Russia. He said the level of competition was very low and the vote was conducted with violations, as well as pressure on independent observers.
European authorities disapprove of pressure on observers and detention of protestors in Russia. (Rustavi 2)
Finance Minister met with economic advisors of diplomatic missions in Georgia
The Minister of Finance of Georgia Dimitri Gvindadze met with economic advisors of the diplomatic missions in Georgia and introduced the details of the economic part of government`s ten-point strategic development plan. The minister spoke about the modernization and employment plans of the government. Foreign experts showed particular interest in the management of foreign debts, service details and activities supporting ongoing economic reforms in Georgia.
`The people who assembled here today are economic advisors of the embassies, whose duties are to encourage direct economic and investment relations with Georgia; therefore, to inform these people about economic plans and activities of the government encourages foreign investments in the country,` Dimitri Gvindadze said. (Rustavi 2)
Family of dead patient accuses doctors of negligence
A patient died in the Saint Michael Hospital in Tbilisi Tuesday night. The health of Levan Tsutskiridze, 29, deteriorated after he had his tooth extracted at one of the dental clinics, where he was allegedly infected by non-sterile tools.
The patient went to the Saint Michael Hospital needing surgery, but the doctors refused to begin the surgery until the patient paid 1,800 GEL. When the family collected the money and paid the clinic, it turned out that the treatment was already delayed.
The patient was held in hospital for the past few days and died last night. The family of the late patient accuses both the dental clinic and the personnel of the Saint Michael Hospital of negligence that caused the death of the patient. (Rustavi 2)
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigol Vashadze delivered a speech at the OSCE Ministerial held in Vilnius Tuesday. Vashadze reported on the situation in Georgia`s occupied territories, emphasizing the process of militarization of the separatist regions by Russia and numerous human rights violations.
`Along with the OSCE issues, we paid great attention to the situation in the region and Georgia-Russia relations. It should be underlined that each member of the European Union hailed the huge progress of Georgia on its way to the European Union,` Vashadze told journalists after the ministerial.
Grigol Vashadze held bilateral meetings with colleagues from Germany, Azerbaijan and Lithuania. (Rustavi 2)
Moscow police releases Rustavi 2 cameraman
Moscow police has released the cameraman hired by Rustavi 2, who was detained while covering opposition protests on Tuesday night. The cameraman was released after paying a 500 ruble fine.
Over 500 protestors were arrested both in Moscow and Petersburg late last night - the demonstrations began after Sunday`s parliamentary elections in which the ruling party claimed victory. The protestors condemned the results of the elections and the regime of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. All prominent activists of the opposition were arrested, Boris Nemtsov was among them, however, he was released after a few hours of detention.
Human rights defender Lev Ponomarov, leader of the party Yabloko Sergei Mitrokhin, other opposition figures Anatoli Baranov, Mikhail Shneider, Eduard Limonov and Elena Kostiuchenko will face 15-day sentences and 1,000 ruble fines.
Several thousand special task officers were controlling the situation on the central square in Moscow Tuesday.
A Moscow court has already sent famous blogger Aleksei Navalni into custody for 15 days. (Rustavi 2)
Europe condemns Russian elections
The European Union`s foreign policy chief said she was seriously concerned about media bias and the harassment of independent monitoring during Sunday`s parliamentary election in Russia.
Catherine Ashton said in a statement on Tuesday that she took note of the fact that the Duma election was well-prepared and administered.
`Reports of procedural violations, such as lack of media impartiality, lack of separation between party and state, and the harassment of independent monitoring attempts, are however of serious concern,` she said.
She also expressed the hope that the issues raised in preliminary findings would be addressed when Russia holds a presidential election in March.
The president of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek has also disapproved of the conduct of the parliamentary elections in Russia. He said the level of competition was very low and the vote was conducted with violations, as well as pressure on independent observers.
European authorities disapprove of pressure on observers and detention of protestors in Russia. (Rustavi 2)
Finance Minister met with economic advisors of diplomatic missions in Georgia
The Minister of Finance of Georgia Dimitri Gvindadze met with economic advisors of the diplomatic missions in Georgia and introduced the details of the economic part of government`s ten-point strategic development plan. The minister spoke about the modernization and employment plans of the government. Foreign experts showed particular interest in the management of foreign debts, service details and activities supporting ongoing economic reforms in Georgia.
`The people who assembled here today are economic advisors of the embassies, whose duties are to encourage direct economic and investment relations with Georgia; therefore, to inform these people about economic plans and activities of the government encourages foreign investments in the country,` Dimitri Gvindadze said. (Rustavi 2)
Family of dead patient accuses doctors of negligence
A patient died in the Saint Michael Hospital in Tbilisi Tuesday night. The health of Levan Tsutskiridze, 29, deteriorated after he had his tooth extracted at one of the dental clinics, where he was allegedly infected by non-sterile tools.
The patient went to the Saint Michael Hospital needing surgery, but the doctors refused to begin the surgery until the patient paid 1,800 GEL. When the family collected the money and paid the clinic, it turned out that the treatment was already delayed.
The patient was held in hospital for the past few days and died last night. The family of the late patient accuses both the dental clinic and the personnel of the Saint Michael Hospital of negligence that caused the death of the patient. (Rustavi 2)