Nini Gabritchidze

2 weeks ago | civil.ge | Nini Gabritchidze

When Levan Ioseliani, the Georgian Public Defender, returned to the parliament tribune on June 10 after a break for questions, he had two main impressions to share. “I have an impression that with opposition absent in this hall, you decided to take it out on me,” the ombudsman told Georgian Dream’s one-party parliament, which has been boycotted by the opposition since the disputed 2024 parliamentary vote.

3 weeks ago | civil.ge | Nini Gabritchidze

“They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs.”Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “Little Prince“Those were the times of boredom and stagnation. It was the summer of 2001, and, at first glance, not much was going on, except for a string of mysterious disappearances of bronze statues from Tbilisi parks. First vanished the Exupérian small statuettes around the charming and somewhat melancholic Little Prince fountain in Tbilisi’s Mrgvali Baghi (Round Square), across the UN building.

4 weeks ago | civil.ge | Nini Gabritchidze

The Georgian interpretation of the American Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) took effect on May 31, amid widespread fears that the vague legislation would be used to further crack down on freedom of expression and association in the country. The law is an exact translation of the U.S. FARA document enacted in 1938. It mandates that those considered “agents of a foreign principal” register within ten days in a special FARA registry administered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

1 month ago | civil.ge | Nini Gabritchidze

“May the Saints of this day be with you,” a middle-aged man said into his phone as he sent his best wishes on May 17. About fifty meters from him, large crowds were marching toward Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity Cathedral to celebrate the “Family Purity Day.” The phrase the man was using is a greeting that Georgian Orthodox Christians exchange on religious holidays, and religious holidays have their saints. But who are the saints of May 17? Are they those who were martyred on this day?

1 month ago | civil.ge | Nini Gabritchidze

I first wrote about this large “lake” near my Tbilisi suburban apartment on May 7, 2023, in this Dispatch. A nearby construction had damaged the only road through the neighborhood, and created a tectonic depression that flooded with every rain, for days on end.