The former soccer player and secretary of Georgian Dream wants a third term as mayor of the capital. The Putin-aligned oligarch, the country's “real master,” was present at the party. Anti-Western slogans and threats to expel the EU ambassador. For the opposition, the mayor-champion's new candidacy is yet another anti-Brussels “signal.”

Not only articles but also social media posts are increasingly targeted by the law punishing ‘insults to state officials’, approved by the Georgian Dream-dominated Parliament. According to many commentators, this could be the prelude to the total closure of Facebook in the country.

Zurab Dzhaparidze, one of the leaders of the “Coalition for Change” opposing the Georgian Dream regime, has been arrested for refusing to pay a fine imposed on him for failing to appear before a parliamentary inquiry commission he considers “illegitimate” due to electoral fraud. “If people refused to live in lies, the regime would collapse instantly,” he declared.

Kobakhidze's government avoids mentioning the Russians on the anniversary of the harsh Soviet repression. Former president Zurabishvili accuses ‘anonymous foreign forces’ of the massacre. Relatives of demonstrators arrested during pro-European marches in recent months gather at the victims' memorial.

Irakli Kobakhidze's visit to the Uzbek capital was an opportunity to strengthen cooperation projects between the two countries. The objective: to rapidly increase the volume of trade to one billion dollars.

For more than two months, Tbilisi has been protesting against the elections manipulated by the Georgian Dream, and the repression is getting tougher. The testimonies of those who ended up behind bars collected by Ekho Kavkaza: ‘Even among policemen, many are not happy with what is happening in our country’.