(report.az)
The Azerbaijani State Fund to Support Development of the Mass Media has raised the eligibility requirements for newspapers to receive support, effectively cutting off support for most newspapers. [Read more…]
Tbilisi City Court (Dato Parulava / OC Media)
Several Georgian media advocacy groups have warned that a proposed defamation law put forward by the president could put freedom of speech in the country at risk. The groups pointed out that there are already legal mechanisms in place against defamation, and that any new restrictions would ‘endanger Georgia’s democratic development’. [Read more…]
‘Hands off Iberia TV’, employees of the Iberia TV organised a protest at the government office on 10 September. (Mari Nikuradze /OC Media)
A secret audio recording released on Friday suggests that former Georgian sports minister Levan Kipiani attempted to extort expensive cars for other ministers from Omega Group, a business group that owns local TV channel Iberia TV. The authenticity of the recording has not yet been verified, but this is the second secret audio recording released in recent weeks suggesting the government is applying pressure on Omega Group. [Read more…]
Tamar Mearakishvili (/OC Media)
A South Ossetian court has ruled that the local prosecutor’s office committed procedural violations when dismissing a complaint by journalist Tamara Mearakishvili. Mearakishvili told OC Media she had complained regarding the ‘inaction of the general prosecutor’s office’ while investigating her for slander. [Read more…]
(OC Media)
Leaders from the ruling Georgian Dream party have criticised American rights watchdog Freedom House, for suggesting democracy declined in the country in 2017. ‘Absurd, unobjective and amusing’ were some of the words PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Parliament chairman Irakli Kobakhidze used to describe their 2018 Nations in Transit report, which said informal governance was ‘one of the key features of GD’s rule’. [Read more…]
(Freedom House)
Democracy declines in the Caucasus with ‘half-hearted reforms’ in Georgia, improper investigation of high-level corruption in Armenia, ‘deeply entrenched’ authoritarianism in Azerbaijan, and a crackdown on queer people in the North Caucasus, according to American right group Freedom House’s Nations in Transit 2018 report. [Read more…]
Marina Khachatryan during the incident at the Yerevan City Hall (Screenshot /Azatutyun)
Armenia has passed a law banning reporters from attending Yerevan City Council. The law comes just weeks after reporters captured the physical assault of two female councillors in the council chamber. [Read more…]
Tamara Mearakishvili (Facebook)
A journalist and activist in South Ossetia, Tamara Mearakishvili, has been accused by the authorities there of forgery. Mearakishvili says she has been under ‘unofficial house arrest’ since August.
The rally in Baku (Caucasian Knot)
Several thousand people protested in Baku on 10 March, in a rally organised by Azerbaijan’s two largest opposition groups against President Ilham Aliyev. The groups have announced they plan to boycott the presidential elections scheduled for 11 April. [Read more…]
Marina Khachatryan during the incident at the Yerevan City Hall (Screenshot /Azatutyun)
Journalists have been barred from attending Yerevan City Council days after reporting on the physical assault of two female councillors. Two women from the opposition Yerkir Tsirani (Apricot Country) party were attacked last week and thrown out of the council by a number male councillors from the ruling Republican Party.
