Georgia’s weekly recap by IPN [07.03-13.03]

InterPressNews breaks down last week's major developments in Georgia.

Officials say more than 20,000 Russian citizens entered Georgia in 13 days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

On March 7, newly-appointed Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili announced that since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, around 20-25 thousand people entered Georgia from Russia. Davitashvili added that the figure was not alarming as it was roughly in the pre-pandemic range.

The next day, on March 8, State Security Service released a statement saying that "no tendency had been observed that would have suggested that citizens of Russia, Belarus or other foreign countries who had entered Georgia carried out activities that posed a risk to state security". SSG alleged that there was deliberate misinformation and that the security environment in the country was under full control.

Later, on March 9, in his conversation with journalists, Interior Minister Vakhtan Gomelauri clarified that many of those Russian citizens entering Georgia came from North Caucasus. Gomelauri said they were usually stuck and unable to fly back home, due to which they rented buses in turkey and cross into Georgia together with families only to pass through the Lars checkpoint to Russia. "This is also counted as the entry of Russian citizens, although they leave the territory; half of them do not really remain, there are about 3,000 who have entered and have not left yet," Gomelauri explained.

Tbilisi rally demands closing skies to Russia, introducing visa regime for Russian citizens and abolishing pro-Russian media in the country

On late March 7, demonstrators in Tbilisi held a rally in support of Ukraine. In addition to expressing solidarity with Ukrainians, the participants of the rally demanded closing skies to Russia; introducing visa regime for Russian citizens; and abolishing pro-Russian media in the country.

Later that evening, a confrontation between the protesters and the law enforcers occurred near the government administration. As a result, several demonstrators, demanding the resignation of PM Gharibashvili, were arrested. Soon some of the remaining demonstrators threw flour at police officers which was followed by further detainments.

Russia releases a list of “unfriendly countries” which doesn’t include Georgia

On March 7, the Russian government approved the list of countries and territories that were carrying out "unfriendly actions" against Russia. The list didn’t include Georgia. The fact was shortly responded to by opposition European Georgia chairman Giga Bokeria, saying that the reason behind this was that the Georgian government was doing "Moscow’s job".

"Putin's Russia did not have Yanukovych's Ukraine on the list of hostile states, and what did they do to Yanukovych and Ukraine? They decided to crush them and today they continue the same path," Bokeria stated.

Former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava acquitted in airport incident case

Former Tbilisi Mayor and opposition leader Gigi Ugulava was acquitted in the airport incident case.

The incident took place at Tbilisi Airport on December 11, 2019. Ugulava was accused of beating judoka Badri Gavashelishvili. However, the court ruled that there was no sufficient evidence that would prove the accusation. Defendant Gavashelishvili's friend Davit Parkadze was also accused together with Gigi Ugulava as part of the case. Parkadze was accused of beating politician Goka Gabashvili. According to the court decision, he was found guilty and fined.

According to Ugulava, the court’s ruling is not a triumph of justice. As he explained after the trial, Gavashelishvili was the real abuser in the case, but "but the judiciary is silent about it."

As for the prosecution’s position, Prosecutor Natia Guruli told reporters that the Prosecutor’s Office doesn’t agree with the decision and plans to appeal it.

Russian payment system MIR appears on Georgian Airways’ webpage

On March 7, the Russian payment system MIR was introduced next to MasterCard and Visa on Georgian Airways' webpage as a payment option. As the head of the airline, Tamaz Gaiashvili, explained to RFE/RL, his interest was to sell tickets. "I am not joining sanctions, and have no obligation to do so," Gaiashvili said.

On March 9, in his public address, opposition UNM chairman Nika Melia called on Gaiashvili to refuse to participate "in the system created by Putin." According to Nika Melia, Georgian Airways was assisting Russian individuals and legal entities in circumventing sanctions imposed on Moscow by establishing relations with the Russian payment system, which at the same time illegally operated in occupied Abkhazia. Melia also added that the airline couldn’t have made the decision individually without the involvement of the government.

Georgian Airways released a statement on the same day, explaining that the airline has a contract with Spanish WebSky.tech which is an international system for selling air tickets with Visa, MasterCard and MIR. Georgian Airways said that its management couldn’t influence the Spanish company’s decision to operate MIR system in its sales. The company also pointed out that Georgian Airways didn’t sell any tickets with MIR, adding that it was physically impossible to do it through Georgian banks.

The statement also said that on March 3, the financial service of Georgian Airways wrote to WebSky.tech's support team to remove the MIR logo, as they did not use the MIR payment system.

Rafael Mursakulov found guilty of murder of Australian citizen Shanae Brooke

Rafael Mursakulov, accused of killing Australian citizen Shanae Brooke, was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison by Tbilisi City Court on March 9.

Rafael Mursakulov had been arrested in connection with the murder of Australian national Shanae Brooke, who went missing on July 30, 2021. The body of the young woman was found on Mtatsminda, Tbilisi, on July 31.

Rafael Mursakulov had been charged under articles pertaining to robbery and premeditated murder and faced a prison term from 16 to 20 years or life imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, Shanae Brooke was stabbed 13 times, including 5 times in the throat, which confirmed the intent to kill.

Prosecutor Giorgi Kobuladze explained that after committing the murder, Rafael Mursakulov hid the body, threw leaves over it and planned to burn it. According to Kobuladze, the accused was sane at the time of the crime, fully aware of what he was doing.

Jailed ex-President Saakashvili calls off hunger strike

On March 10, third President Mikheil Saakashvili called off his hunger strike declared since February 21. As Saakashvili explained in his address, now the priority should be common sense, health and full mobilization. The ex-President said he received a letter from Georgian fighters in Ukraine to stop the hunger strike. "The same request comes from the representatives of Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief," he added.

According to Saakashvili, for him the peaceful return of Sokhumi passes through Kyiv, due to which now it is time to get stronger, not weaken. "This applies to me too," ex-President explained.

The next day, Public Defender Lomjaria called on Penitentiary Service to immediately transfer the third President for necessary medical examinations. Ombudsman’s statement came based on the information received from the doctor of the penitentiary institution, according to which, Mikheil Saakashvili's health condition had deteriorated as a result of the hunger strike.

ICC Prosecutor files war crime arrest warrant for three so-called South Ossetian officials

On March 11, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan filed arrest warrants as part of Russo-Georgia war case for three so-called South Ossetian officials: Mikhail Mindzaev (appointed in 2005 as so-called interior minister until 2008 October); Gamlet Guchmazov (head of so-called preliminary detention facility at the time of events); and David Sanakoev (so-called ombudsman).

"My application for these warrants of arrest focuses specifically on unlawful confinement, ill-treatment, hostage taking and subsequent unlawful transfer of ethnic Georgian civilians in the context of an occupation by the Russian Federation," ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement.

According to Khan, the investigation also revealed the alleged role of Major General of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, now-deceased Vyacheslav Borisov.

Nika Melia accuses Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze of dealing with company producing military equipment for Russia

On the evening of March 11, opposition UNM chairman Nika Melia held a party briefing where he stated that Tbilisi City Hall has a contract with a Russian company, Metrowagonmash, which at the same time manufactures military equipment for Russia. According to Melia, based on the GEL 170 million contract with City Hall, Metrowagonmash was to supply 44 wagons to the Tbilisi metro. Melia urged Mayor Kakha Kaladze to unilaterally cancel the contract with the Russian company.

NATO-Georgia Excercise to go ahead according to plan

According to the Ministry of Defence, NATO-Georgia Exercise scheduled for March 20-25 at the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC) will be held according to the plan.

As the Ministry noted in its March 12 statement, the upcoming Exercise is the third in a row since 2016 and follows the processes and procedures of NATO exercise planning.

The MoD noted that the 2022 NATO-Georgia Exercise is a command and staff level that involves computer training and is not field-based.

"During the exercises, participants will develop the skills needed to plan operations through computer simulations and share knowledge and experience with each other," MoD said in a statement, adding that representatives of 23 NATO member and partner countries are expected to take place in the multinational Excercise.

Economy, Agriculture Ministers assure there will be no shortages of food products in Georgia

Following the media reports on shortages of sugar in markets, as well as Georgia’s Distribution Association head’s comment regarding excessive purchases causing delays in supply of retail chains, the newly-appointed Minister of Agriculture assured that there was no reason the supply of sugar to be delayed in the country, as neither Russia nor Ukraine was Georgia's main supplier.

On March 13, Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili additionally declared that there "were stocks of almost all food products in Georgia and there would be no shortage of anything." Minister also alleged there might be an artificially organized panic attempt in the country and "some forces might be taking advantage of it."

According to Davitashvili, all products that can not be imported from Ukraine will be replaced by other countries. As for wheat imports, Minister said that Georgia has a supply of at least 2 months. "If there is no Russian wheat, Kazakhstan is an unconditional alternative today. However, currently the export of wheat from Russia to Georgia is not prohibited," he added.

Opposition MP Aleko Elisashvili says he left for Ukraine to join "foreign volunteer fighters"

On March 13, opposition Citizens leader MP Aleko Elisashvili posted a Facebook statement, saying that he was in Ukraine with the "foreign legion of volunteer fighters". As Elisashvili explained, he couldn’t watch the fight from afar.

"That is why I am here in Ukraine. In the foreign legion of volunteer fighters. We must defeat the enemy. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Georgia!" Georgian MP wrote.