Zviad Mchedlishvili is a correspondent for Current Time TV, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
A spartan, windowless space at Georgia’s border with Russia is the temporary home, for weeks or months, of Ukrainians who were seized by Russia and are now being deported. “The toilet is awful…. There are only 19 beds for 50 people, and they keep bringing people in without stopping,” one man said.
At the Georgian-Russian border, many Ukrainians deported by Russian authorities are stuck in harsh conditions.
Georgian police clashed with protesters in Tbilisi, early on November 29 after the ruling party said the government would suspend talks on European Union accession. While covering the protests, Current Time cameraman George Tchumburidze was thrown thrown off a ledge near the parliament building.
Three Georgians have told a Current Time correspondent how they were either fired or pressured to take voluntary redundancy after either criticizing the government online or joining protests against a controversial "foreign agent" bill.
Georgian protesters called on the government to withdraw its controversial "foreign agents" bill, which would require organizations with foreign funding to register their activities. For a third straight day, thousands rallied on April 17 outside parliament, which was surrounded by police.
A landscape architect who says he worked on Russian President Vladimir Putin's official complex near Moscow has provided Current Time with plans, videos, and photos. Stanislav Chekalyov says he spent five months working at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence last year.
The Georgian government has proposed growing cannabis for export, but leaving the cultivation and sale within the country as illegal acts.
On-air joke about Jesus and ex-prime minister's quirky tree hobby lands six in jail, one in hospital.
