The News in Brief
Thursday, July 10
Georgian Parliamentary delegation ends Azerbaijan visit
A Georgian Parliamentary delegation has ended an official visit to Azerbaijan.
The official visit, led by Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili, ended last night. Usupashvili assessed his time abroad and said the visit was "productive”.
"In the scope of the visit we agreed on many issues including enhancing the two countries relations after Georgia signed the Association Agreement (AA),” Usupashvili said.
He said relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan would deepen since the AA was profitable for both countries.
"Azerbaijan has its own way, its own sight, it does not enter any similar union but it does have a will to intensify relations with Georgia,” Usupashvili said.
After taking part in official meetings, the second day of the visit was allocated to cultural events. Usupashvili and other members of the delegation visited various sites in Baku and left their remark in visitors’ books.
After visiting the old town and Maidan Tower, the Georgian delegation went to the Heydar Aliyev Center. (agenda.ge)
“Another official of the United National Movement will be detained on Friday”
Another official of the United National Movement will be detained on Friday, former candidate for the mayor of Rustavi Erosi Kitsmarishvili told Rustavi 2 on Tuesday.
According to him, if the above-mentioned takes place, it will be the government’s attempt to get people's attention from the real problems to invented problems.
“Today one of my friends told me that “another official of the United National Movement will be detained on Friday”. If it takes place, it will be the government’s attempt to get people's attention from the real problems to invented problems”, Erosi Kitsmarishvili said. (Frontnews)
Moscow consents to Tefft’s appointment as new US ambassador to Russia
Moscow has consented to the appointment of John Tefft as the new American ambassador to Russia; - ITAR-TASS has spread this information according to a diplomatic source.
“Russia has officially agreed to the appointment of John Tefft as the new head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Moscow,” the Russian information agency has cited the source’s comment.
According to ITAR TASS, the New York Times wrote that naming Tefft as a candidate head of the mission caused some suspicions initially, as there is the danger that Russia is annoyed because of his experience in the former soviet republics.
The USA addressed Russia in relation to the consent of John Teftt’s appointment.
The 65 year-old Tefft served as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from November 2009 till August 2013. In 200-2003, he headed the American diplomatic mission in Lithuania and in 2005-2009 in Georgia. In 1996-1999, he was deputy U.S. ambassador in Moscow. (Ipn)
Giorgi Baramidze calls for investigation of specific facts
MP Giorgi Baramidze calls on the parliament chairperson, Davit Usupashvili and the Prosecutor`s Office of Georgia to provide the fair and urgent investigation of the developments on July 4th - Baramidze says on that night, when MP Levan Bezhashvili was illegally detained by the police in the clash outside the Tbilisi City Court and taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, he was refused the entry into the ministry main office, which was another fact of violation of law.
“We went to the head office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the soldiers guarding outside told us that we were not allowed to enter the office under the order of the minister. This is yet another fact of violation along with the detention of the member of the parliament and these actions should be adequately responded,” Baramidze says. (Rustavi2)
Monitoring Groups Say Senior Cleric Violated Law by Weighing into Election Campaign
A high-ranking cleric from the Georgian Orthodox Church has violated law when he weighed into election campaign with his sermon on Sunday, several election monitoring and human rights watchdog groups said on July 8 and called on the Central Election Commission to look into the case. In his sermon in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, bishop Jakob slammed UNM opposition party and called on the voters to go to second round of local elections on July 12 to “reject” those who, as he put it, “are not repenting for what they have done to the country” when they were in power. Bishop Jakob is one of the three deputies of head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II; he usually delivers sermons in the Holy Trinity Cathedral when the Patriarch is absent. The Georgian election code bans religious organizations from election campaign. Four election monitoring and human rights groups said in their joint statement that the legislative norm prohibiting religious organizations from election campaigning aims at “protecting electoral process from the influence of religious figures.” They said that probability of such an influence is high in Georgia taking into consideration “high public confidence and authority enjoyed by religious organizations.” “Independence of election process is an important precondition for the development of democratic and secular state,” reads the statement by International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy; Georgian Young Lawyers Association; Transparency International Georgia and Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center. These groups have called on the Central Election Commission to study and react to this case of Bishop Jakob’s participation in the pre-election campaigning “in violation of the election legislation.”The four organizations have called on the religious groups “to refrain from any public action containing the signs of pre-election campaigning.” (Civil.ge)
A Georgian Parliamentary delegation has ended an official visit to Azerbaijan.
The official visit, led by Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili, ended last night. Usupashvili assessed his time abroad and said the visit was "productive”.
"In the scope of the visit we agreed on many issues including enhancing the two countries relations after Georgia signed the Association Agreement (AA),” Usupashvili said.
He said relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan would deepen since the AA was profitable for both countries.
"Azerbaijan has its own way, its own sight, it does not enter any similar union but it does have a will to intensify relations with Georgia,” Usupashvili said.
After taking part in official meetings, the second day of the visit was allocated to cultural events. Usupashvili and other members of the delegation visited various sites in Baku and left their remark in visitors’ books.
After visiting the old town and Maidan Tower, the Georgian delegation went to the Heydar Aliyev Center. (agenda.ge)
“Another official of the United National Movement will be detained on Friday”
Another official of the United National Movement will be detained on Friday, former candidate for the mayor of Rustavi Erosi Kitsmarishvili told Rustavi 2 on Tuesday.
According to him, if the above-mentioned takes place, it will be the government’s attempt to get people's attention from the real problems to invented problems.
“Today one of my friends told me that “another official of the United National Movement will be detained on Friday”. If it takes place, it will be the government’s attempt to get people's attention from the real problems to invented problems”, Erosi Kitsmarishvili said. (Frontnews)
Moscow consents to Tefft’s appointment as new US ambassador to Russia
Moscow has consented to the appointment of John Tefft as the new American ambassador to Russia; - ITAR-TASS has spread this information according to a diplomatic source.
“Russia has officially agreed to the appointment of John Tefft as the new head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Moscow,” the Russian information agency has cited the source’s comment.
According to ITAR TASS, the New York Times wrote that naming Tefft as a candidate head of the mission caused some suspicions initially, as there is the danger that Russia is annoyed because of his experience in the former soviet republics.
The USA addressed Russia in relation to the consent of John Teftt’s appointment.
The 65 year-old Tefft served as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from November 2009 till August 2013. In 200-2003, he headed the American diplomatic mission in Lithuania and in 2005-2009 in Georgia. In 1996-1999, he was deputy U.S. ambassador in Moscow. (Ipn)
Giorgi Baramidze calls for investigation of specific facts
MP Giorgi Baramidze calls on the parliament chairperson, Davit Usupashvili and the Prosecutor`s Office of Georgia to provide the fair and urgent investigation of the developments on July 4th - Baramidze says on that night, when MP Levan Bezhashvili was illegally detained by the police in the clash outside the Tbilisi City Court and taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, he was refused the entry into the ministry main office, which was another fact of violation of law.
“We went to the head office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the soldiers guarding outside told us that we were not allowed to enter the office under the order of the minister. This is yet another fact of violation along with the detention of the member of the parliament and these actions should be adequately responded,” Baramidze says. (Rustavi2)
Monitoring Groups Say Senior Cleric Violated Law by Weighing into Election Campaign
A high-ranking cleric from the Georgian Orthodox Church has violated law when he weighed into election campaign with his sermon on Sunday, several election monitoring and human rights watchdog groups said on July 8 and called on the Central Election Commission to look into the case. In his sermon in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, bishop Jakob slammed UNM opposition party and called on the voters to go to second round of local elections on July 12 to “reject” those who, as he put it, “are not repenting for what they have done to the country” when they were in power. Bishop Jakob is one of the three deputies of head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II; he usually delivers sermons in the Holy Trinity Cathedral when the Patriarch is absent. The Georgian election code bans religious organizations from election campaign. Four election monitoring and human rights groups said in their joint statement that the legislative norm prohibiting religious organizations from election campaigning aims at “protecting electoral process from the influence of religious figures.” They said that probability of such an influence is high in Georgia taking into consideration “high public confidence and authority enjoyed by religious organizations.” “Independence of election process is an important precondition for the development of democratic and secular state,” reads the statement by International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy; Georgian Young Lawyers Association; Transparency International Georgia and Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center. These groups have called on the Central Election Commission to study and react to this case of Bishop Jakob’s participation in the pre-election campaigning “in violation of the election legislation.”The four organizations have called on the religious groups “to refrain from any public action containing the signs of pre-election campaigning.” (Civil.ge)