Hate Crime

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Crime

Georgian court upholds ruling that neo-Nazi murder was not ethnically-motivated

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

The Tbilisi Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling that the murder of Jewish-Yazidi man Vitali Safarov by neo-Nazis was not ethnically motivated. Safarov, 25, was stabbed to death by Avtandil Kandelakishvili and Giorgi Sokhadze in September 2018 outside the Warszawa bar in central Tbilisi. Despite Kalandarishvili having a swastika tattoo on his body, and contrary to witness testimony, both he and Sokhadze insisted they were not members of any hate group. Thursday’s ruling upholds the 2019 c

Georgia

Tbilisi court dismisses ‘hate motivation’ in Safarov murder while jailing two for 15 years

by OC Media

•4 min read

Tbilisi City Court has sentenced two men to 15 years in jail for the group murder of human rights activist Vitali Safarov. The court ruled that the murder of Safarov, who was Jewish, was not a hate-motivated crime. Safarov, a 25-years-old Georgian raised in Tbilisi who had Jewish and Yazidi roots, was stabbed to death in the early hours of 30 September after a fight near the Warszawa Bar on Tbilisi’s Freedom Square. Safarov had worked at several local rights groups including at the Centre

Georgia

Key witness testifies that Safarov was killed because he was Jewish

by Dato Parulava

•5 min read

The key witness in the trial over the murder of Vitali Safarov in Tbilisi has testified that Safarov was killed because he was Jewish. The witness, identified only as Nikoloz Sh, testified on Tuesday that he had been friends with the two defendants and that together they had regularly insulted foreigners and attempted to physically attack them. Avtandil Kandelakishvili, 21, and Giorgi Sokhadze, 24, are accused of stabbing Safarov to death in the early hours of 30 September after a fight n

Georgia

Court denies bail to two accused of killing rights activist Vitali Safarov

by OC Media

•2 min read

Two men accused of murdering 25-year-old human rights activist Vitali Safarov will remain in custody, Tbilisi City Court has ruled as dozens of people held a peaceful rally outside the court in support of Safarov. Safarov was killed on the morning of 30 September after a fight outside Warszawa Bar, near Tbilisi’s Freedom Square. Police arrested two suspects the same morning and said they had retrieved the knife that was used as the murder weapon. The two defendants, Avtandil Kandelakishv

Georgia

Georgian rights activist’s murder was ‘a hate crime’

by OC Media

•4 min read

Two Georgian rights groups have called on the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the murder of a 25-year-old human rights activist outside a bar in Tbilisi as a possibly hate-motivated crime. The Tbilisi-based Human Rights Centre (HRIDC) and the Centre for Participation and Development (CPD) said the fatal stabbing of Vitali Safarov on 30 September may have been based on ‘xenophobic grounds’. Safarov, a Georgian raised in Tbilisi who had Jewish and Yazidi roots, worked as a programme mana

Armenia

Nine queer rights activists attacked by mob in Armenia

by OC Media

•4 min read

On Friday evening, nine queer activists were attacked by ‘more than 30 people’ in the village of Shurnukh, in the southern Syunik region of Armenia. Two were hospitalised and six others with minor injuries were taken to the police station in Goris, the nearest town. On 2 August, several advocates for queer rights, women’s rights, and environmental issues got together at the home of a queer activist in Shurnukh. That evening, a group of locals, including women and children, gathered outside

Georgia

Queer rights activists ‘abused by police’ in Georgia

by OC Media

•2 min read

Two leaders of a Georgian queer rights group detained in Batumi on 25 August say they were physically and verbally abused by police. An investigation has been opened into alleged abuse of power. Tornike Kusiani, a board member of the Equality Movement, and Levan Berianidze, the organisation’s director, were outside a nightclub in Batumi in the early hours of 25 August when strangers started insulting them, Berianidze’s lawyer told Tabula. Kusiani stepped away, but returned to the scene a