Latest news with #Georgians
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Second Georgian opposition leader placed in pre-trial detention as crackdown widens
By Felix Light TBILISI (Reuters) -A Georgian court on Friday placed Nika Melia, a leader of the country's main opposition party, in pre-trial detention, amid a widening crackdown against a pro-Western opposition that has staged months of anti-government protests. Melia, a top leader of the Coalition for Change opposition bloc, was detained on Thursday for refusing to appear at a parliamentary inquiry into alleged crimes committed under jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili between 2004 and 2012. The length of the detention was not immediately clear. Last week, a judge placed another leader of the Coalition for Change, Zurab Japaridze, in pre-trial detention for refusing to appear before the inquiry. Friday's hearing was disorderly, with Melia sentenced after being removed from the courtroom for throwing water at the judge from the dock. Previously one of the most pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union's successor states, Georgia under the leadership of the Georgian Dream party is accused by the ruling bloc's critics of moving in an authoritarian and pro-Russian direction. Georgian Dream says it still wants the country to eventually join the European Union but wants to preserve what it calls Georgia's traditional values and also to avoid conflict with Russia, its giant neighbour and former imperial ruler. Separately on Friday, another judge jailed a 19-year-old student activist for 12 days for insulting a Georgian Dream lawmaker she had called a "Russian slave" in a cafe this month. Georgian Dream, after winning an election last November that the opposition says was rigged, said it would halt talks on joining the EU till 2028. EU membership has wide support among Georgians and the goal has been enshrined in the constitution. The ruling party's decision to suspend the talks sparked mass street protests, prompting a violent crackdown and large-scale arrests by security forces. Georgian Dream is dominated by billionaire ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is widely seen as Georgia's de facto leader. In December, the United States sanctioned Ivanishvili for what it said were actions aimed at dismantling Georgian democracy for the benefit of Russia.
The Star
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
Second Georgian opposition leader placed in pre-trial detention as crackdown widens
Nika Melia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change opposition group, charged with failing to appear before the Georgian parliament's temporary investigative commission, attends a court hearing in Tbilisi, Georgia May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/Pool/ File Photo TBILISI (Reuters) -A Georgian court on Friday placed Nika Melia, a leader of the country's main opposition party, in pre-trial detention, amid a widening crackdown against a pro-Western opposition that has staged months of anti-government protests. Melia, a top leader of the Coalition for Change opposition bloc, was detained on Thursday for refusing to appear at a parliamentary inquiry into alleged crimes committed under jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili between 2004 and 2012. The length of the detention was not immediately clear. Last week, a judge placed another leader of the Coalition for Change, Zurab Japaridze, in pre-trial detention for refusing to appear before the inquiry. Friday's hearing was disorderly, with Melia sentenced after being removed from the courtroom for throwing water at the judge from the dock. Previously one of the most pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union's successor states, Georgia under the leadership of the Georgian Dream party is accused by the ruling bloc's critics of moving in an authoritarian and pro-Russian direction. Georgian Dream says it still wants the country to eventually join the European Union but wants to preserve what it calls Georgia's traditional values and also to avoid conflict with Russia, its giant neighbour and former imperial ruler. Separately on Friday, another judge jailed a 19-year-old student activist for 12 days for insulting a Georgian Dream lawmaker she had called a "Russian slave" in a cafe this month. Georgian Dream, after winning an election last November that the opposition says was rigged, said it would halt talks on joining the EU till 2028. EU membership has wide support among Georgians and the goal has been enshrined in the constitution. The ruling party's decision to suspend the talks sparked mass street protests, prompting a violent crackdown and large-scale arrests by security forces. Georgian Dream is dominated by billionaire ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is widely seen as Georgia's de facto leader. In December, the United States sanctioned Ivanishvili for what it said were actions aimed at dismantling Georgian democracy for the benefit of Russia. (Reporting by Felix LightEditing by Gareth Jones)
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Second Georgian opposition leader placed in pre-trial detention as crackdown widens
Nika Melia, leader of Georgia's largest opposition party United National Movement (UNM), and his supporters gather in a tent outside the party's office after they announced a hunger strike to demand the immediate release of jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi, Georgia December 22, 2021. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/ File Photo Nika Melia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change opposition group, charged with failing to appear before the Georgian parliament's temporary investigative commission, splashes water towards a judge during a court hearing in Tbilisi, Georgia May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/Pool Nika Melia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change opposition group, charged with failing to appear before the Georgian parliament's temporary investigative commission, attends a court hearing in Tbilisi, Georgia May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/Pool/ File Photo Second Georgian opposition leader placed in pre-trial detention as crackdown widens TBILISI - A Georgian court on Friday placed Nika Melia, a leader of the country's main opposition party, in pre-trial detention, amid a widening crackdown against a pro-Western opposition that has staged months of anti-government protests. Melia, a top leader of the Coalition for Change opposition bloc, was detained on Thursday for refusing to appear at a parliamentary inquiry into alleged crimes committed under jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili between 2004 and 2012. The length of the detention was not immediately clear. Last week, a judge placed another leader of the Coalition for Change, Zurab Japaridze, in pre-trial detention for refusing to appear before the inquiry. Friday's hearing was disorderly, with Melia sentenced after being removed from the courtroom for throwing water at the judge from the dock. Previously one of the most pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union's successor states, Georgia under the leadership of the Georgian Dream party is accused by the ruling bloc's critics of moving in an authoritarian and pro-Russian direction. Georgian Dream says it still wants the country to eventually join the European Union but wants to preserve what it calls Georgia's traditional values and also to avoid conflict with Russia, its giant neighbour and former imperial ruler. Separately on Friday, another judge jailed a 19-year-old student activist for 12 days for insulting a Georgian Dream lawmaker she had called a "Russian slave" in a cafe this month. Georgian Dream, after winning an election last November that the opposition says was rigged, said it would halt talks on joining the EU till 2028. EU membership has wide support among Georgians and the goal has been enshrined in the constitution. The ruling party's decision to suspend the talks sparked mass street protests, prompting a violent crackdown and large-scale arrests by security forces. Georgian Dream is dominated by billionaire ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is widely seen as Georgia's de facto leader. In December, the United States sanctioned Ivanishvili for what it said were actions aimed at dismantling Georgian democracy for the benefit of Russia. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
New York Post
14 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Douglas Murray: Putin's playbook is the same a quarter-century later — peace talks are pointless
President George W. Bush famously underestimated Vladimir Putin. Asked about his impressions of the Russian president after a brief meeting in 2001, the then-US president claimed that he had 'looked into Putin's eyes' and 'saw his soul.' It is odd that Bush imagined he had some mystical ability to divine the soul of his Russian counterpart. His secretary of state, Colin Powell, had a different reaction. Powell said that he, too, had looked into Putin's eyes 'and I saw the KGB.' Almost a quarter of a century has passed since then. US presidents have come and gone. But Putin remains, still perplexing his US counterparts. Bush found out what was behind Putin's eyes a little too late. Toward the end of Bush's second term, in 2008, Putin's Russia invaded the neighboring country of Georgia. Although Putin didn't get everything he wanted from that conflict, his brutal invasion did allow him to purge Georgians from South Ossetia and Abkhazia and install Russian forces in those regions. Lesson of history It was a relatively small war, but one that many people in the West seem to have forgotten. Ever since Putin repeated his Georgian maneuver on a much grander scale in Ukraine in 2022, there are still people who like to pretend that Ukraine is all that Vladimir Putin wants. To think this is to repeat a historic mistake. In general you can weigh up world leaders in two ways: what they say, and what they do. Putin is by turns open and sphinx-like about what he wants. Speaking to the Russian people, he can be explicit about the expansion he wants — including the reconstruction of the Soviet Empire. To others he can play a subtler game, bamboozling ignorant foreign interviewers and running rings around them. But it is by his actions that you can really know Putin. And just consider his actions lately. Russian President Vladimir Putin, listens to Akie Abe, the widow of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during a meeting at the Kremlin, May 29, 2025, in Moscow, Russia. This week he ordered some of the largest aerial assaults to date on the people of Ukraine. President Trump, who believed that he was in the middle of a cease-fire negotiation with the Russian president, finally seemed to have lost patience. 'Absolutely crazy' was among the things that Trump labeled Putin's latest assault on his neighbor. Putin's spokesman responded by dismissing Trump's comments as 'emotional.' But Trump is right to be angry about what Putin is doing. Because at the same time as dragging out negotiations — postponing meetings, reneging on promises — he is deliberately dragging out the war that he started. Men put flowers at a new monument to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at Taganskaya Metro station, May 15, 2025, in Moscow, Russia. Getty Images And there are few signs that he is ready to stop that war anytime soon. In the past three years he has restructured the whole Russian economy onto a wartime footing. With arms production on overdrive and billions of dollars being spent on the wartime economy, he has few reasons to stop the war even if he wanted to. Russia is good at sitting out long conflicts, and its people are used to hardship. Compare that to the Western powers who say they want to stand up to Putin. Trump has rightly insisted that this country's European allies step up to the moment and increase their share of defense spending. He is absolutely right in that — and his pressure is already having positive results. Germany's mistake When Angela Merkel was chancellor of Germany, she made a set of catastrophic policy decisions relating to Russia. Not least was her enthusiasm for importing cheap Russian gas through the Nord Stream 2 project. Worse was that during her chancellorship, Germany's defense spending dropped to just 1% of GDP. Today, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Germany has realized that it is going to have to step up. Under pressure from Trump, Chancellor Friedrich Merz is promising to up his country's defense spending to 5% of GDP. Which is double the baseline spending commitment expected of NATO members. But the question of when that military spending will turn into military reality is another question. In reality we might all be dead of natural causes before Germany manages to increase its arms production and army recruitment processes. Putin knows that. He knows that with a US which doesn't threaten him, and a Europe that can't get its act together, the cards are largely in his hands. It is another reason why it seems that he can afford himself little treats, as well as monumental snubs. The snubs include his repeated claims that he is committed to peace while bombing the hell out of Ukraine. The little treats include some very knowing nods to the Soviet past. This week a new monument was unveiled in the Moscow subway system. But the new statue was of an old leader. It is an ugly Soviet frieze-like monument of Joseph Stalin surrounded by statues of adoring works and children. Flowers were placed on the monument shortly after it was unveiled. The sculpture tells its own tale. It is part of a concerted effort by Putin and his regime to rehabilitate the Soviet dictator who was responsible for more deaths and misery than any other Russian leader. As well as being responsible for the deaths of millions of his own countrymen, Stalin stands out as one of the most blood-thirsty, cunning and expansionist leaders in Russian history. Among some serious competition. Dreams of empire So why would the authorities in Moscow go back to celebrating him now? Because Russia is on a war footing, and every stop is being pulled out to persuade the Russian people of the virtue of that war. Many Russians still revere Stalin — in spite of the gulags and purges — because he helped Russia get through and help win the Second World War. Putin wants to draw on those same Russian reserves. And he wants to persuade his people that his war in Ukraine is absolutely similar to Stalin's war against the Nazis. He is drawing on the deepest and darkest reserves that he can in order to keep his war in motion. It is up to the West to decide whether the darkness that Vladimir Putin draws on is something we should just observe. Or a force that we can deter.
DW
14 hours ago
- Politics
- DW
Georgia: Police detain top opposition leader – DW – 05/30/2025
Nika Melia, a key figure in Georgia's largest opposition group Coalition for Change, has been arrested, his party said. The government has been clamping down on dissent in recent months. Police in Georgia have detained Nika Melia, a leading opposition politician, his party said on Thursday. He is accused of insulting law enforcement officers. Melia is one of the key figures in the pro-European political alliance Coalition for Change, which is Georgia's largest opposition group. It's the second such detention in recent days. Last week, a Georgian court placed Zurab Japaridze, another leader of the Coalition for Change, in pre-trial detention for an indeterminate period of time. Japaridze had refused to appear at a parliamentary inquiry into alleged crimes committed under the former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is now in jail. Other opposition figures have also been accused of similar offenses. They have also refused to appear at hearings and have rejected the parliamentary inquiry as illegitimate. Why fear of Russia is growing in Georgia To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What is the situation in Georgia? Georgia was previously regarded as one of the most pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union's successor states. But the current ruling Georgian Dream party is accused by critics of mimicking authoritarian tactics employed by Moscow and steering the country towards Russia and away from Europe and its aspirations of joining the European Union. The government denies the allegations. Membership of the 27-nation bloc is a popular goal among Georgians and incorporated in the constitution. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, however, last year postponed accession talks with Brussels until 2028. That decision revived street protests that had rocked the country in 2023 and 2024 after the government introduced the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence — referred to by critics as the "Russian Law" — that requires NGOs to register as foreign agents or "organizations carrying the interests of a foreign power." Georgia has had no formal ties with Russia since Moscow backed separatists in two breakaway provinces in 2008. Edited by: Sean SInico Georgia, Russia and EU — from European dream to nightmare? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
