Tag Archives: politics

Georgian opposition TV channel nears closure

OCT. 2 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s main opposition TV channel Rustavi2 said it will have to stop broadcasting within days unless it finds more cash quickly after a court seized a controlling stake in the company.

The court blocked the sale of the 51% stake to a relative of a former defence minister, a sale that had been considered vital to keep Rustavi2 afloat after an earlier decision linked to a row with a former shareholder handed control of the TV channel’s assets to the authorities.

At a press conference at the TV channel’s HQ in Tbilisi, Rustavi2 director Nika Gvaramia said that its closure was imminent.

“The current government, lead by Ivanishvili promises democracy, but they have finally done what they have wanted to do for the past four years — shut Rustavi2 down,” he said.

Bidzina Ivanishvili is Georgia’s richest man and architect of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition.

Since winning a parliamentary election in 2012 and a presidential election a year later, Mr Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream have been trying to purge Georgia of remnants of former president Mikheil Saakashvili and his allies.

And analysts said that Rustavi2, one of only three main TV channels, has long been in his sights.

Maia Mikashavidze, a Tbilisi-based professor of mass communication, said Rustavi2 is considered one of the few voices critical of the current government and that the decision by the court to block the sale of the stake did carry a political undertone.

“Rustavi2’s operations are seriously threatened and may stall any time because the station is short of cash because of insufficient ad sales,” Ms Mikashavidze said.

“This limits access to alternative views and facts for a huge numbers of viewers who rely on Rustavi2 for that service.”

In Kutaisi, hundreds of people rallied in front of parliament to demand that the government take action to protect Rustavi2.

The US government, which has previously criticised Mr Ivanishvili and his supporters for their excessive zeal in prosecuting people and companies linked to Mr Saakashvili, said that it was concerned about the case.

“We do not like to see any kind of limitation on this pluralistic media environment.” US Ambassador Ian Kelley said in a statement.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

IRPT are terrorists says Tajik court

SEPT. 29 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s High Court decreed the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) a terrorist organisation and banned it, wiping the only real opposition party from the country.

The high court statement published by the Khovar state news agency accused the IRPT of committing crimes of terrorist acts and spreading provocative materials.

Pressure on the IRPT has been building.

The General Prosecutor’s Office earlier accused the IRPT leadership of involvement in double attacks on police checkpoints last month that killed two dozen people. It said the mastermind of the attacks had been deputy defence minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda.

Police also detained Buzurgmehr Yorov, an IRPT lawyer, after he started defending 13 top party members arrested for the attacks. Mr Yorov has reportedly been charged with fraud and corruption crimes.

Earlier this year, the Tajik authorities also prosecuted Group 24, another political party that it deemed to be plotting against it.

An analyst who declined to be named said: “It is the sign of zero tolerance of any kind of political opposition, no matter whether they are religious or secular. Tajikistan has now become a one-party state.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Blair to visit Georgia

SEPT. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili met with former British PM Tony Blair during his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, media reported. Mr Blair apparently accepted an invitation from Mr Garibashvili to visit Georgia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Kazakh President’s son-in-law takes Olympic role

SEPT. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Olympic Committee reportedly appointed Timur Kulibayev, son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbayev and a potential successor, as its head. Earlier this year Almaty lost to Beijing in its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. The bid boosted both the profile of Kazakhstan and also of its Olympic Committee.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Seagal flies into Azerbaijan to give President Aliyev a pep talk

SEPT. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Steven Seagal, the Hollywood actor best known for his 1980s and 1990s martial arts movies, pitched up in Azerbaijan to meet President Ilham Aliyev for a chat and photo op.

His acting commitments have waned but the 63-year-old appears to have created a decent business giving pep talks to leaders of ex-Soviet states. His clients include President Vladimir Putin in Russia.

Now Mr Aliyev’ clearly felt he needed Mr Seagal’s help. Relations with Europe and the US have worsened over human rights and vote monitoring.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Georgia picks banking board

SEPT. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The members of Georgia’s new Banking Supervisory Board are all close allies of former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, drawing immediate allegations of cronyism. The Banking Supervisory Board replaces the Central Bank as the authority over commercial banks. The head of the board is Konstantine Sulamanidze, former CEO of Progress Bank in which Mr Ivanishvili owns a stake.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

OSCE/ODHIR pressures Azerbaijan

SEPT. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan has come under increased international pressure to allow more monitors from the OSCE’s ODHIR into the country to monitor a parliamentary election in November. The OSCE cancelled its monitoring mission because it said the authorities in Azerbaijan had permitted only half the requested monitors.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Azerbaijan’s first lady wants to be MP

SEPT. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Mehriban Aliyeva, wife of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, has registered as a candidate in parliamentary elections on Nov. 1, media reported. Ms Aliyeva has not previously shown any political inclination.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Tajikistan accuses IRPT of attacks

SEPT. 20 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik security forces detained 13 leaders from the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) and accused them of being linked to attacks this month that killed two dozen people.

Pressure has been mounting on the IRPT, the only real opposition party in Tajikistan, over the past few months. It’s leader, Muhiddin Kabiri, has fled into exile and the ministry of justice has said that the IRPT has to disband because it lacks members.

Now, the Tajik authorities have allegedly seized documents from IRPT office in Dushanbe that proves it was involved in attacks apparently lead by a disgruntled former deputy defence minister.

The IRPT denied links to attacks on two police stations on Sept. 4.

And on the streets of Dushanbe, this is view shared by some residents.

“I don’t think that IRPT are involved. The government is apparently getting rid of former Civil War opposition members,” a Dushanbe resident called Yahyo said.

A Dushanbe analyst agreed and said that Pre.s Rakhmon had used the attacks to get rid of opponents.

“Rakhmon will further centralise the regime with these lies being his main tool,” he said, anonymously.

The authorities also said they killed Gen. Abduhalim Nazarzoda, the ex-deputy defence minister blamed for organising the attacks (Sept. 19).

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Group of men beat Armenian opposition activist

SEPT. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A group of men dragged Smbat Hakobian, a member of an Armenian opposition group, away from a march and beat him, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. HRW said this was the 2nd time an opposition activist had been beaten in the past year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)