by Ariela Shapiro (05/29/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)

On May 17, 28 people were injured when an angry mob, led by Georgian clergymen, broke through police cordons and clashed with gay rights activists in Tbilisi, Georgia. The U.S. and EU condemned the events while Prime Minister Ivanishvili promised that those who instigated the violence would be prosecuted, including members of the clergy. Despite the government’s harsh rhetoric, only four laypeople have been arrested while four individuals, two of whom are clergymen, have been charged with “encroachment of the right to assembly and manifestation”. 

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by Eka Janashia (05/15/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)

On May 11, the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) Coalition, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, nominated Education Minister Georgy Margvelashvili as GD’s presidential candidate for the October 2013 elections. Although Ivanishvili proclaimed that anyone can defeat the candidate of United National Movement (UNM), the major opposition party, he still preferred to bid for his “friend” and “exemplary” minister. The UNM, in turn, has not yet nominated its candidate and plans to reveal him or her through U.S. style primary elections.

20130501analyst.pdf

by Eka Janashia (05/01/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Georgian authorities rejected an accusation dispersed on April 24 by the Russian media outlet Izvestia about alleged linkages between Georgian intelligence services and the Boston Marathon bombing.