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Amnesty – Pre-Election Campaign or “mollified tone of the President?”
January 17, 2008
After the famous events of November, the President’s administration filed a draft law regarding amnesty to the Georgian Parliament. During the pre-election campaign, thousands of prisoners were released from detention centers on the initiative of Mikheil Saakashvili and Nino Burdjanadze; among them were political prisoners. Amnesty is always a good initiative; especially if we take into consideration the poor conditions in our detention centers. Nevertheless there is a different question which remains; despite many human rights violations in the detention centers observed by international and domestic organizations, why was the pardon initiated in the pre-election period when the government needs public support most of all? Does it mean that after this government is elected the number of the prisoners will increase? And generally, in what condition is the Penitentiary System?
Public Defender Demands Punishment of the Chairmen of the Precinct Election Commissions
January 15, 2008
Georgian public defender Sozar Subari, demands a reaction on the offenses committed at Kardenakhi polling station # 33 of Gurjaani precinct # 12. He thinks that the Gurjaani Precinct Election Commission (PEC) counted the votes of the Snap Presidential Elections on January 5 2008 wrongly and this constitutes a crime.
Prisoners Were Not Allowed to Vote
January 11, 2008
Presidential Elections were carried out with serious violations at the Kutaisi Detention Establishment # 2 as it was reported by the representatives of the “New Rights” Kutaisi office.
During Elections Observers Could not Name Their Organizations
January 11, 2008
Snap Presidential Elections caused many problems and one of them was unprepared NGOs and opposition parties. NGOs always suffered from the lack of human resources in regions and it reflected on the elections too.
Government Intended to Throw Ballot Papers in the Garbage
January 11, 2008
NGOs caught Central Election Commission on the crime. On January 10 at 1:00 PM the NGO Coalition for Democracy held demonstration in front of the CEC. The NGOs demanded to launch criminal prosecution against Levan Tarkhnishvili, the chairperson of the CEC. Photos
Violations Discovered by “the Coalition for Democracy” but Overlooked by International Observers
January 10, 2008
Final results of the January 5 Presidential Elections have not been published yet however the situation has become extremely tense in the country. On January 6, International organizations congratulated Georgian people with the democratically held elections. Several Georgian NGOs also joined the congratulations.
Population of Samegrelo Region “Rocked the Cradle” for Mikheil Saakashvili Again
January 10, 2008
Mikheil Saakashvili’s famous phrase is “The cradle of Rose Revolution was rocked in Samgrelo.” Now the phrase attained new meaning. Local people has rocked the cradle for him once more and as oppositionists claim, Gorozias, Kobalias, Akhalias, Koduas and Gunavas demonstrated their power to Saakashvili again.
Who Should We Trust?
January 10, 2008
Assessments of the presidential elections started before the final results have been published. Governmental layers, part of non-governmental organizations and observing missions were making statements on TV that the elections were fair and transparent. In the recent days, Georgian TV stations have broadcasted positive assessments of the elections and nobody speaks about the numerous violations that were observed during the polling process. Those facts were revealed in the conclusions made by the OSCE, the National Democratic Institute and many other organizations.
Judge Insulted OSCE Observers
January 10, 2008
OSCE observers were insulted at the Gurjaani District Court. Paul Wesson and Norbert Baldia, long-term observers from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), tried to meet Shalva Mchedlishvili, the chairperson of the court. The judge expelled them from his quarters.
January 5 Presidential Elections from One Polling Station in Tbilisi
January 9, 2008
On January 5 and afterwards, the fair presidential elections are widely discussed in Georgia. There were over 3 000 polling stations in the country. A day at one of the polling stations:
Violations in Gori
January 9, 2008
Like many districts throughout Georgia, various violations were observed in the Gori district as well. It must be pointed out that most violations were observed in the village polling stations, while a better situation could be found in the town polling stations. Both members of the opposition and authorities admitted that a large number of observers influenced the situation in the polling stations of the cities.
Election Violations (Part II)
January 9, 2008
January 5, 2008 Data received by the Coalition For Democracy observation headquarters. According to Nino Shavdatuashvili, the observer coordinator of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, there were violations regarding marking process at polling station #48 (Village Karaleti) of the Gori District Election Commission. Observers made official complaints in the record book, resulting in a temporary suspension of the polling process.
Policemen Physically Assaulted the Observers
January 9, 2008
In Kakheti, policemen physically assaulted observers from NGOs and political parties from the opposition. The incident occurred in the evening of January 8 in Gurjaani. Observers from the Human Rights Center and Fair Elections demanded the Precinct Election Commission (PEC) to declare the results of several Polling Stations (PS) invalid. In reply to their demand the police officers from the Gurjaani Department of the Internal Ministry beat them.
Flawed Presidential Election in the Samtskhe-Javakheti Region
January 9, 2008
What was going on in Adigeni and Akhaltsikhe polling stations from 7:00 AM on January 5? How was the process going? Observers did not realize their role and violations went undetected. The final conclusion: “Wow! The election has succeeded!”
Report of the Mission of Observers of the International Expert Centre for Electoral Systems in the Presidential Elections in Georgia, 6th January 2008
January 8, 2008
A mission from the International Expert Centre for Electoral Systems (ICES) which includes 51 international observers from Israel, Great Britain and the USA, should like to present a report on the preparations and procedures of the Presidential Elections in Georgia, which took place on the 5th of January.
Fraudulent Elections Held in the Kakheti Region
January 8, 2008
“Either Number 5 or Prison! Do Not Dare Deceive us!” Snap Presidential elections in the Kakheti region on January 5th, 2008, saw numerous, blatant violations. Voters were terrorized, the Election Code was disregarded in polling stations, independent observers were prevented from carrying out their activities and one person even pushed dozens of ballots into the ballot box. Despite the serious nature of these complaints from NGOs and the Central Election Commission, many foreign observers and the Georgian government have assessed the elections as fair.
“I Have Elected The President Of My Country But The Winner Is Another”
January 8, 2008
The publication of the final result of the extraordinary elections is getting closer and closer. The January 5 election caused controversy among the society from its very beginning. Some consider that nothing has been done to prevent electoral fraud and another part of society thinks that the presidential candidate who really deserved the victory, has won the election. What are the views of Georgian people on the 2008 election? Was the election fair and democratic? And would they expect such an outcome?
“Election Carousel” Continues
January 5, 2008
Together with the other violations, so called “carousel” is still actual. There have been observed several mini buses in Tbilisi taking people from one polling station to another. One of the drivers of these mini buses said to Ucha Nanuashvili, executive director of the Human Rights Centre that the National Movement hired him to move people in the city.
Elections Are Totally Fraud (Part I)
January 5, 2008
Data from Observing Headquarter of the Coalition for Democracy Gela Mtivlishvili, an observer of the Human Rights Center monitoring several polling stations in Kakheti, reported that in Iormugalno in the Sagarejo voting district, the chairman of the PEC, Nari Arakhbediani, and her deputy, Risgan Abasueva, are following voters into the voting booth and requesting them to circle presidential candidate number 5, Mikheil Saakashvili of the National Movement. Mtivlishvili has also received reports of the same occurring in the village of Tivi at polling station #12 in the Kvareli district. Mtivlishvili will follow up on these reports.
Interim Elections in Georgia
January 5, 2008
Today a special presidential election is held in Georgia. Seven presidential candidates participate in it. They are: #1 - Levan Gachechiladze (political movement ”Tavisupleba” (”Freedom”)), #2 - Arkadi (Badri) Patarkatsishvili (initiative group), #3 - Davit Gamkrelidze (political party – New Rights), #4 - Shalva Natelashvili (Labor Party of Georgia), #5 – Mikheil Saakashvili (political party – United National Movement), #6 – Giorgi Maisashvili (initiative group), #7 – Irina Sarishvili (initiative group).