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Georgia 2021 13 major events

1

Coronavirus - Record Deaths and Low Vaccination Rates

ILLUSTRATION BY DIANA PETRIASHVILI

By December 31, 2021, 13,800 people had died from the coronavirus in Georgia, and the number of confirmed cases increased to 934,741.

At the end of the year, Georgia ranked seventh in the world in terms of deaths from coronavirus per million inhabitants.

In the second half of the year, many vaccines were available to Georgian citizens, but the vaccination process in the country was still very slow.

ИЛЛЮСТРАЦИЯ ДИАНЫ ПЕТРИАШВИЛИ

Vaccination against Covid-19 began in Georgia in March 2021, and by the end of the year 1,148,962 people had been vaccinated with two doses, accounting for about 40% of the population.

The initial vaccination was interrupted by a tragic incident in March - two days after the start of the vaccination process, a 28-year-old nurse from Akhaltsikhe, Megi Bakradze, fell into a coma after receiving the first dose of AstraZeneca and died soon after.

On December 1, 2021, the so-called. "green passport" for citizens vaccinated with two doses was introduced. One could only enter cafes, restaurants, theaters and cinemas and many other piblic establishments after presenting the "green passport”

2

Resignation of Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and the "Second Coming" of Irakli Garibashvili

On February 18, Georgian Prime Minister Giogi Gakharia resigned. The reason for his resignation was disagreement with his team over the arrest of opposition leader Nika Melia. Gakharia opposed the use of force in detention of the leader of the main opposition party, the United National Movement, because he believed it would exacerbate an already tense political situation.

Gakharia joined the opposition, founding his own party, For Georgia, and won 7.8% of the vote in the 2021 local elections. Gakharia himself was competing for the post of mayor of Tbilisi, but lost.

Irakli Garibashvili, who at the time of Gakharia’s resignation held the post of Defense Minister, became the new Prime Minister. Garibashvili has already served as the country's prime minister once. He was first appointed to this position in 2013, when the country's shadow leader, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, decided to step down.

3

Special operation in the office of the opposition party and the arrest of Nika Melia

On the morning of February 23, television showed how hundreds of law enforcement officers tried to break into the office of the United National Movement and detain the leader of the party, Nika Melia.

During the arrest of the leader of the opposition party, tear gas and special equipment were used. Melia spent three months in prison and the European Union posted bail for his release.

The arrest of the opposition leader was one of the first decisions of the new prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili.

4

The political crisis and the visits of Charles Michel

Photo: REUTErS

The political crisis in Georgia, which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections, continued throughout 2021. The opposition did not recognize the election results, refused to enter parliament, held street rallies and called for early elections, since it considered the previous elections to be rigged and its results unfair.

Western diplomats and European officials took part in mitigating the crisis, most notably Charles Michel, President of the European Council, who personally visited Georgia three times. With the mediation of Charles Michel, a document was prepared that was supposed to lead the country out of the political crisis.

The Charles Michel Agreement was signed on April 19. The opposition agreed to enter parliament, and the government promised to begin electoral and judicial reform. However, this agreement never worked as the ruling party unilaterally withdrew from it on July 28

5

Scandal around Bidzina Ivanishvili's son

On March 6, Pirveli TV released recordings of telephone conversations between Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Bera Ivanishvili, the son of a billionaire who is considered the "shadow" ruler of Georgia.

In these recordings, the son of the most powerful man in the country is allegedly talking with the current Prime Minister Garibashvili and the head of the State Security Service Anzor Chubinidze. Secretly recorded telephone conversations detail how a schoolboy was intimidated and punished for speaking ill of Bers Ivanishvili on a social media.

After the tapes were released to the public, an investigation was launched, but law enforcement officials were only interested in how the tapes got to the journalists. Investigations into the alleged crimes committed against minors have never been launched.

6

Four drowned in the Inguri River

On April 7, rescuers removed the bodies of four people from the Inguri river near the village of Shamgon, Zugdidi region, in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.

All four were ethnic Georgians who lived in Gali, an area controlled by Abkhazia’s authorities. They tried to cross the river into the Zugdidi region controlled by Tbilisi. They had to travel in secret to avoid quarantine, which was a requirement in Georgia due to the coronavirus pandemic.

7

The July 5 pogrom and the death of Lekso Lashkarava

The Pride March, planned by Tbilisi Pride and LGBTQ activists, was to take place in central Tbilisi on 5 July. However, due to aggressive threats and opposition of various far-right groups, the march was canceled.

Hate groups hold a rally in front of the parliament building. 5'th of July. Photo: David Pipia / JAMnews

Hundreds of homophobic groups, including many clerics, took part in the ultra-right rally on July 5. "Hate groups" broke into the Tbilisi Pride office, tore down the EU flag hanging in front of the parliament building (what they referred to as a sign of the alleged "gay propaganda of the West in Georgia”), and severely beat the journalists covering the events.

As a result, about sixty media representatives were injured. Some required surgery, some suffered concussions, others had bruises on their bodies. Among them was Lekso Lashkarava, cameraman of the TV Pirveli television company, who was also severely beaten. A few days later, Lashkarava died.

REUTERS

The July 5 incidentr was condemned by international organizations. Amnesty International said in a statement that the authorities did not do enough to prevent the violence.

None of the organizers of the July 5 pogrom was detained. None of the 26 detainees were charged with organizing the violence. Although on the Internet there were many calls for violence against LGBTQ people.

8

8 Secret files from the State Security Service archives

In September, secret files were leaked to the Internet, allegedly from the archives of the State Security Service. Those files showed that the SSS wiretrapped the members of the Synod, priests, assistants to the patriarch, bishops, nuns and their associates, as well as representatives of the media and politicians.

As it turned out, the State Security Service had information about the movement of clergymen, bank transfers and their private life. Thousands of files also contained information about the people through whom clergymen had been recruited. The documents contained information about priests who used drugs or were friends with criminals. The files also stated that "during operational work, 36 priests of non-traditional sexual orientation were identified, 23 priests (including nuns) watched sex with women, and 21 priests used drugs".

Some of the people in the records confirmed the authenticity of the information contained in them.

9

Record number of Olympic medals

The main sporting event of 2021 was the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, which were postponed for a year due to the outbreak of the global pandemic.

At the Olympic Games, Georgian athletes won eight medals, which is the best result in the history of independent Georgia. Of these eight medals, two were gold, five were silver and one was bronze.

REUTERS

10

Saakashvili's arrival in Georgia

The "Freedom Misha" rally on Freedom Square. Photo: Vakho Kareli / Formula

On October 1, a few hours before the local self-government elections, the third president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, posted a video on his Facebook page in which he was walking around Batumi.

Saakashvili could not return home for eight years, because he was convicted and wanted in several criminal cases, and the ruling Georgian Dream party openly stated that Saakashvili would be arrested as soon as he entered the country.

On October 1, all day government officials denied that Saakashvili was in Georgia. However, on the same evening, Prime Minister Garibashvili said at a special briefing that Saakashvili had been arrested in Tbilisi and taken to Rustavi prison. It is noteworthy that at the same briefing, Garibashvili congratulated the Georgian public and the informal leader of the country, Bidzina Ivanishvili, on his birthday.

As it turned out, Saakashvili secretly arrived in Georgia at the end of September.

After his arrest, he went on a hunger strike because he considered himself a political prisoner.

Saakashvili had been on a hunger strike for 50 days.

After his arrival, the political crisis in the country intensified even more, the polarization of society came to a peak, and the country's political life was concentrated exclusively around the former president. In October, the largest anti-government rally in the past nine years was held in the center of Tbilisi.

Due to the hunger strike, Saakashvili's health deteriorated, but the authorities refused to follow the advice of doctors, as well as the public defender of Georgia and transfer him to a multi-profile civilian clinic. Several people, including the leader of the Droa party, Elene Khoshtaria, went on a hunger strike demanding that the former president be taken to a multidisciplinary clinic.

11

Local self-government elections

Photo: David PiPia/JAMnews

On October 2, elections to local self-government bodies were held in Georgia.

According to the proportional system, the ruling Georgian Dream party won with 46.74%, followed by the National Movement (Saakashvili's party) with 30.67%, and the party of former Prime Minister Gakharia with 7.80%.

As for the mayors, the second round was appointed in all five largest, self-governing cities (including Tbilisi) and 15 municipalities.

As a result of both rounds, the opposition candidate became mayor only in the small town of Tsalenjikha, in Western Georgia. The opposition stated that the elections were falsified and once again demanded early parliamentary elections to be called. The authorities said that the elections in the country will not take place until the due time in 2024.

What is life like in the only municipality where the opposition won the elections. Report from Tsalenjikha

12

The collapse of a residential building in Batumi

On October 8, a tragedy occurred in the Black Sea town of Batumi - in the center of the city, on May 26 street, one entrance of a seven-story building collapsed. Nine people died, including three children.

A few days before the collapse on the first floor of this entrance, the commercial premises had been repaired, during which the load-bearing wall had been demolished and safety rules had been violated. A day of mourning was declared in the country after the tragedy.

13

Abolition of the State Inspector Service

The day before the New Year, the Georgian parliament abolished the State Inspector's Service. 81 deputies spoke in favor of the cancellation of the service, 7 deputies were against it.

The State Inspector Service was founded in 2019. Its function was to conduct impartial investigations of the crimes committed by police, law enforcement and other government officials.

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JAMnews Tbilisi
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