About 30,000 demonstrators marched across the Georgian capital to demand that authorities let a top independent television station back on the air.
Sunday's march was the first major opposition rally in Georgia since a violent dispersal of anti-government protests earlier this month, and took place as Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili stepped down to start campaigning for an early presidential vote on Jan. 5.
Saakashvili, as required by law, handed over his powers to his close ally, parliamentary speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, according to presidential spokesman Vano Noniashvili. The parliament also voted 148-1 on Sunday to endorse Saakashvili's order to set the presidential vote for Jan. 5.
PHOTO: AFP
Tens of thousands marched across downtown Tbilisi and held a rally in front of parliament, urging authorities to let the station, Imedi, back on the air.
"If they don't listen to our demands, we will conduct permanent rallies," said protester Zviad Dzidziguri. "They will go on until Imedi is back on air."
Saakashvili called the election to defuse tensions after police violently dispersed opposition rallies on Nov. 7, injuring hundreds. The incident has raised doubts about the US-allied leader's commitment to democracy and drew strong criticism from the West.
"I'm sure that Jan. 5 will go down in Georgia's history as the beginning of a big move forward," Saakashvili said in a televised statement late on Saturday.
Saakashvili, who has sought to shed Russia's influence and integrate Georgia into the West, has defended the crackdown and a state of emergency he introduced as a necessary response to what he described as a coup attempt staged by Moscow. Russia angrily rejected the allegations.
The US-educated Saakashvili had won praise for his efforts to integrate the small Caucasus nation with the West. But he has faced growing discontent over the slow pace of reforms, persistent poverty and what critics call increasingly authoritarian policies.
On Nov. 7, when police clubbed and tear-gassed the opposition protesters, Saakashvili ordered the state of emergency that banned rallies and took independent news broadcasts off the air. The measure was lifted a week later, but Imedi has remained shut.
Authorities said Imedi, founded by tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, was being investigated over calls for the government's ouster. Patarkatsishvili, a Saakashvili critic, recently handed over control of Imedi to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
Saakashvili defended the decision to take Imedi off the air, saying in a TV interview broadcast late on Sunday that Patarkatsishvili had "turned Imedi into a tool for destabilizing the situation in the country and ousting the government."
He dodged a question about when Imedi would be allowed to resume broadcasts, saying it could only happen after authorities receive guarantees that the station wouldn't be used by "certain political forces" to upset stability and overthrow the government.
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
‘NO INTEGRITY’: The chief judge expressed concern over how the sentence would be perceived given that military detention is believed to be easier than civilian prison A military court yesterday sentenced a New Zealand soldier to two years’ detention for attempting to spy for a foreign power. The soldier, whose name has been suppressed, admitted to attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and knowingly possessing an objectionable publication. He was ordered into military detention at Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch and would be dismissed from the New Zealand Defence Force at the end of his sentence. His admission and its acceptance by the court marked the first spying conviction in New Zealand’s history. The soldier would be paid at half his previous rate until his dismissal
RSS