really extraordinary, how Georgian Dream people are incriminating themselves, in their own words, telling us that the judiciary is rigged to do political deeds.

foto exhibition "Tavisupleba" on pro-European protests, in #Tuebingen, from Nov 28 until February, by Emilia Huppenberger #Georgia

Wonderful article about creating a great space & home away from the usual routes. #Armenia

Arrests have become routine in #Georgia - so frequent it’s hard to keep track. A few days of detention now feel as common as a COVID diagnosis once did: inevitable, frightening, and especially dangerous for the vulnerable. #RepressionInGeorgia #TerrorInGeorgia

light earthquake in Tbilisi, it seems.

#Tbilisi cat in Vera.

Great work by @ocmedia.bsky.social to explain how an obscure Japanese term has become charged with meaning in contemporary Georgia.

Multiple arrests across Tbilisi today, ppl taken from their homes. In living memory in Georgia, it hasn't been that bad. Many likely only administrative detention, but jailing is jailing. Parents ripped away from children, and and and.

a million other things going on, but here also a reminder that @humboldtuni.bsky.social does not manage to provide the information they are legally obligated to suppy, on some of its fraught ventures, within the established timeframe. Does not inspire confidence.

Statement by Ilia State University colleagues: "We, the members of the university community - professors, researchers, lecturers, students, alumni, staff & supporters of education, express our firm disagreement with the proposed concept of higher education reform, because"

In an autocracy, no one is safe -- great case study see below.

another clip from tonight shows Nikoloz Shurgaia getting arrested - highly respected, former banker, many years in London, LSE alumnus, civic activist (organized large clean ups outside TBS). The unhinged Robespierre-style radicals in the country? It's the current GD regime. #Georgia

From last week, Gvantsa Jobava on the front page of the daily Frankfurt Book Fair journal -- on defending publishers' freedom. #Georgia

Remarkable story of cash & gold stolen from the people of #Azerbaijan and then stolen again in Germany. jam-news.net/millions-rep...

At least three more protesters have been detained in Georgia for allegedly blocking the road: Nino Beruashvili, Temo Saralidze, and Saba Japharidze. Georgia already has 130+ political prisoners—more prisoners per capita than Russia.

seems Signal is down at least in some parts -- and suddenly the essential comms infrastructure of the last months is suspended & in limbo. (Makes sense to have Threema & others also.) cybernews.com/news/aws-out...

Georgische Richter sind Werkzeuge eines Oligarchen namens Ivanishvili. Sie werden betreut durch deutsche Juraprofessoren und deutsche Universitäten.

Anklage: Georgische Richter sind Werkzeuge eines Oligarchen namens Ivanishvili. Sie werden betreut durch deutsche Juraprofessoren und deutsche Universitäten.

Es wäre toll, wenn Berichte wie von Hans dabei auch Beachtung finden würden. Wir bildeten scheinbar das Georgische Regime in Deutschland aus. Humboldt Uni ganz besonders, hier der Chef des 🇬🇪 Geheimdienstes. bsky.app/profile/hans...

"optimism is a radical act in difficult times" says @oliverbullough.bsky.social in panel discussion how to counter oligarchs trying to buy political & societal dominance @zegfest.bsky.social

More in the series "GD regime is dominant but deeply unstable". There will be glum faces across a good chunk of the Georgian Dream base (esp in Kakheti, where the Gharibashvili family & in laws loom large).

ZEG Storytelling Festival comes to London (and yes, rooted in #Georgia & about the present moment), in the pretty Finsbury Town Hall. Kicking off now. @zegfest.bsky.social

Her arrest is yet another strong signal against Western institutions. Mariam’s six-year-old daughter needs her brave mother by her side. Please, spread the word. 2/2

No other words - disgraceful by Prof Wolfgang Hermann @tum.de to endorse Bidzina Ivanishvili a week after vicious regime attacks on Prof Marine Chitashvili, while students jailed, and when attack on higher education announced. @efdavies.bsky.social @dornblueth.bsky.social @correctiv.org

Even a superficial reading of reform concept makes clear that this is more of GD regime's vandalism & destruction, taking apart institutions top-down, isolating Georgia, persecution & stacking institutions w cronies. (Staggering that Wolfgang Hermann of @tum.de these days publicly endorses BI.)

🆘 Another wave of arrests took place across #Georgia last night. The exact number of detainees, their names and charges, remains unknown. So far, info has emerged about several activists, incl Mariam Mekantsishvili - the one who spoke with the OSCE Chair @elinavaltonen.bsky.social on Rustaveli Ave

"the bravery is to fight when there is no logical explanation" @irmadimitradze.bsky.social speaking also for Mzia Amaghlobeli from the front lines of defending freedom and the choice between victory & tragedy.

Stand at Frankfurt Book 📚 Fair -- highlighting the various prisoners of conscience of Georgian Dream regime: journalist, poet, teacher, actor, student, all jailed. #Georgia

In the category of #Georgia is a full blown autocracy, it's our wording & descriptions that need to catch up -- comprehensive critique of earlier laws, in meantime many more repressive laws tabled.

Peaceful protestors have gathered in front of the Parliament Building in Tbilisi, Georgia, to voice their concern over the repressive direction of their country. They have every right to democracy, to freedom of expression and basic human rights. We are here to support them.

in #Georgia, the line to an authoritarian state is now solidly crossed, if it hadn't been months ago: main oppo leaders jailed; parties abt to be outlawed; new parties harassed/not registered; media curtailed; civil society subjugated; protest criminalized; courts fully captured. 1/

Well noted. Sergi is good at analysing these things and knows the game at play. Dictatorship in Georgia is imminent and the Tsulukiani commission and its concluding report is the weapon to achieve this by providing justification for the required steps.

Sergi Kapanadze has done everyone great favour of reading the Tsulukiani Commission's report closely -- and shows how it has manufactured a totally biased narrative, highlighting dozens of instances of ommissions; failure to integrate or even hear other views. politicsgeo.com/unconstituti...

new Geopolitics issue is out -- given the disarray across how civil society can continue to work, Vano Chkhikvadze urges a Donors' Conference, saying realism abt new circumstances is needed all around. #Georgia politicsgeo.com/rowing-nowhe...

The Lost Georgian King: Archaeologists Discover the Tomb of Ashot the Great Beneath Gevhernik Fortress - arkeonews.net/the-lost-geo... exciting stuff #georgia #archaeology

As several pointed out (and yes, you can always quibble with details) the per Capita number of political prisoners in #Georgia now is higher than in #Russia. (As in Russia, some of detentions are rooted in legal cases/ causes that ultimately are a result of oppression.)

With this arrest, regime seems to confirm that the suicide of David Gogoberishvili, reported yesterday, is linked to the beating of Bachiashvili -- though the extraordinary version here is that it was self-inflicted. This story will continue to shed light on the deadly mess GD keeps creating.

Incoming Ambo to Germany, Alexander Kartozia, politely challenged on the street about Irakli Kobakhidze's invocation of Joseph Goebbels today. He scurries away. He knows very well that what the Georgian Dream regime says and does is indefensible. www.facebook.com/share/v/1AgX...

and culture event! FOMO will host #Tbilisi launch of Nick Hudson's new album ON THE EVE OF HOPE. "Nick Hudson (@the_academy_of_the_sun) is a UK-born, Tbilisi-based composer/artist who's been pushing the limits of music production and lyricism for the last 30 years." fienta.com/nick-hudson-...

October Overview on State of Play in Georgia -- some provisional thoughts. Comments welcome. open.substack.com/pub/hansgutb...

What to make of the day? Overall a show of strength -- but not one of direction. That strength after months of repression remains impressive, but it won't be enough to get the country back on track, without a clearer, concerted strategy.

Protest group coming down Rustaveli. Now it's quite some numbers. And they keep coming. #Tbilisi #Georgia

Since I'm a voter (& was not in favor of boycott & said so clearly from spring) -- they brought in a tiny improvement to make the ink stain less of a problem, a paper cover when feeding ballot into machine. #Georgia

If you don't cycle in Tbilisi, you miss some of its prettiest sights. Almost midnight by the Mtkvari. #Tbilisi #Georgia

GIP tried to be as constructive as one can be, talked to GD, maintained relations as long as one could -- great org to work with. Sign of the depth of the repressive assault they have to suspend their work, too.

The Mt Tabori Golf & Spa is taking yr bookings now, starting at $400/ night. Stark contrast between luxury rooms that practically no non-stealing Georgian can afford, while decent people get locked into prison. #Tbilisi #Georgia

Good & necessary step, quite a few other steps should follow. #Georgia

The system founder of Georgian Dream, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, has built up to rely on power is walking into the same entrapment as other autocratic regimes (yet much faster it seems): paranoia about his own allies. jam-news.net/prison-and-e...

interesting analysis by Goga Khishtovani, from FB. He says: #Georgia's "amazing economic growth" is misleading. Core sectors like Agriculture (−2.5%), Construction (−2.6%), and Trade (∼+1.5%) are stagnant or shrinking. The growth is heavily reliant on a few unstable drivers.

grim to read all of this, but sadly plausible...