How police violated my rights as a journalist

by Mariam Nikuradze

• 2 min read

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Georgian Dream’s ‘alternative facts’ machine

Nate Ostiller

••3 min read

As public backlash — and condemnation from Georgia’s traditional allies — over the government’s EU U-turn continues, the Georgian Dream government and its media affiliates have increasingly tried to bend reality to suit their purposes. This is not a new tactic for the government and its media supporters like TV Imedi and PosTV, but it has reached jarring levels of cognitive dissonance amid the ongoing protest movement. From my perspective as a journalist, whose primary goal is to cover, as bes

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Nine years of pressure

Aytan Farhadova

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‘Shirin and the girls were detained’ was a phrase first whispered in 2015 while Meydan TV staff were being trained in Ukraine. I was working with them at the time. The news shocked everyone, and as I remember one of my colleagues arguing with everyone after hearing this news while we were in the office of the Ukraine media outlet Nashi Qroshi. This month, a similar refrain was uttered when Meydan TV journalist Aysel Umudova sent a voice message on Telegram saying ‘Aytaj, Khayala, Aynur, Natig

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Cutting the aid of those in need

Arshaluys Barseghyan

••2 min read

Last week brought bad news for Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians. For a little over a year, the 100,000 refugees who lost their homes have been relying on government aid to cover rent and utilities in Armenia. Rental prices, which skyrocketed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have left Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians with little choice but to pay increased rents, especially in and around Yerevan, where they prefer to stay for work, education, and other opportunities. The aid is modest — just ֏50,00

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Climate change conference or authoritarian circus?

Aytan Farhadova

••2 min read

Last week, as COP29 descended on Baku, I came across a video posted by economist Toghrul Mashalli on his Facebook account. In the video, he was talking about how he saw a foreigner walking on the streets of Baku in the evening. He overheard the foreigner filming a video of the street for his friend. ‘I love Baku. Look at this beautiful street. A wonderful city: no crowds, few cars, quiet’, the foreigner was telling his friend. Mashalli said that he wanted to go up to the man and tell him tha