Dodo Gugeshashvili, formerly a prominent member of the Mkhedrioni paramilitary group, has been shot in the outskirts of Tbilisi. Gugeshashvili remains in serious condition in hospital; her son, who was with her at the time, was killed in the attack.
The Interior Ministry confirmed to OC Media that Gugeshashvili, 50, and her son, 33, were shot several times in their flat in Dighomi Massive, in the north west of Tbilisi.
Gugeshashvili, who suffered several gunshots to the chest, was rushed to hospital where she underwent surgery. A doctor at Ghudushauri Clinic told journalists that her condition was ‘serious but stable’.
An investigation has been launched for premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder in aggravating circumstances, which is punishable by up to life in prison.
Gugeshashvili, who also formerly served as a colonel in the Georgian armed forces, maintained a low profile after the Mkhedrioni was dissolved in 1995. In 2014, she volunteered to fight in Ukraine Donbass region, saying she was fighting for the ‘territorial integrity of Ukraine’.
‘A powerful wave of theft, looting, and armed robberies’
The Mkhedrioni (Georgian for cavalry), was a powerful paramilitary group in Georgia in the early 1990s. They fought in the Georgian Civil War against the country’s first president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and his supporters, as well as on the Georgian side during the conflict in Abkhazia.
The Mkhedrioni, formed and led by Jaba Ioseliani, a thief-in-law (a high-ranking criminal in organised crime) and a military commander, led a coup d’état against Gamsakhurdia, helping to topple him from power.
The group has been accused of committing widespread atrocities, both in Abkhazia and eastern Georgia’s Samegrelo Region.
Stephen F. Jones, a prominent writer on Caucasus, describes how Tbilisi and the regions were ‘swept by a powerful wave of theft, looting, and armed robberies’ as a consequences of Mkhedrioni’s accession of power.
The group was outlawed in 1995 and subsequently dissolved.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has attended the funeral of Kesaria Abramidze, a trans media personality and model who was murdered last week.
Abramidze was laid to rest at a ceremony in Tbilisi on Sunday. She was also commemorated in Antwerp, a Belgian city that is home to a number of queer refugees and asylum seekers from Georgia.
The Georgian Orthodox Church refused to provide burial services for Abramidze due to her transgender identity.
Abramidze’s former partner, 26-year-old
The high-profile murder of trans media personality and model Kesaria Abramidze has led to an outpouring of grief and anger in Georgia, with many linking her murder to the ruling party’s transphobic rhetoric and legislation.
Hours after the initial news broke on Wednesday evening, the Interior Ministry confirmed 37-year-old Abramidze was killed after receiving multiple knife wounds following an altercation in her home in Didi Dighomi.
They also confirmed that they had detained a primary susp
Azerbaijan has sentenced a French citizen to three years in prison for spray painting a Baku metro car, as diplomatic relations between Baku and Paris remain tense.
On 10 September, the Narimanov District Court in Baku sentenced Théo Clerc to three years in prison for painting the train carriage at the Baku metro depot. Australian citizen Paul Han and New Zealand citizen Ismael De-Saint Quentin were fined ₼6,800 ($4,000) each for the same charge.
The harsh sentencing of Clerc compared to
Images have appeared online purportedly showing patients being abused at an Ingush care home for people with intellectual disabilities.
Images shared by Russian Telegram channel Baza [WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGERY] showed naked patients shackled to benches and to the wall in an empty tiled room. Also shown in the images were metal bowls from which the patients eat from using their hands.
The facility in Psedakh, a village in northwestern Ingushetia, caters to people who are unable to care
Dodo Gugeshashvili, formerly a prominent member of the Mkhedrioni paramilitary group, has been shot in the outskirts of Tbilisi. Gugeshashvili remains in serious condition in hospital; her son, who was with her at the time, was killed in the attack.
