Georgian President Urges Russia To Stop Meddling In Ex-Soviet Republics' Affairs

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has said Russia must treat former Soviet republics as full-fledged members of the international community.

In an interview with RFE/RL on September 30, Margvelashvili said Russia considers that "international laws are not fully valid or valid in a distorted way on territory defined by Russia's foreign policy as the 'near abroad.'"

Russia recognized Georgia's breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states after a brief war against Georgia in 2008. Moscow has thousands of troops in the regions.

Margvelashvili said "the West has not understood fully the absurdity and the tragedy of what happened in 2008, which led to what happened in Ukraine in 2014."

In March 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and has been backing separatists in the country’s east.

Margvelashvili urged the West to make clear that Moscow's use of force against the sovereignty and independence of the former Soviet republics is "unacceptable."

Azerbaijan: Georgia Proposes Joint Military Jet Business

Georgia is in discussions with Azerbaijan to jointly produce Su-25 close air support jets, Azerbaijani military sources have told the news agency APA:

Military sources told APA that Georgia plans to produce the modernized versions of SU-25 aircrafts at the Tbilisi Aerospace Manufacturing Company (TAM). Tbilisi has addressed Azerbaijan for financing the project and establishing joint production. The Azerbaijani military circles welcomed the proposal, but the government will make a final decision.
If the project is implemented, certain part of the aircrafts may be produced at the military plants of Azerbaijan.

There doesn't seem to be any news on this from any Georgian sources. (The last reports about Georgia-Azerbaijan defense deals, about Azerbaijan possibly buying Georgian APCs, came only from Georgian sources, for what it's worth.) 

TAM was renationalized by the Georgian government in 2010 after having been privatized in 2004. And it was the original manufacturer of the Su-25 during the Soviet era.

This news, of course, comes as a number of reports suggest that Moscow may be stopping the sale of military aircraft that Azerbaijan had been trying to buy from Russia. But those deals were for Su-27, Su-30 and MiG-31s, and the Su-25 carries out a different mission than those. And it's also not made clear here whether or not Azerbaijan is the intended customer or not. So it may or may not be connected. But it does seem evidence of slowly growing ties between Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan are lobbying NATO to use Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway

Turkey and Azerbaijan with Georgia are lobbying NATO to use the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway for the transport from Afghanistan, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Maia Panjikidze at a meeting with journalists.

"The Georgian side offers the ISAF and NATO two things. First - Georgia's participation in operations in Afghanistan after 2014, although the mission has not been determined. Apart from this, we have the willingness to make a financial contribution to the development of Afghan security forces. Second - we offer the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which is the shortest, and cheapest way out of Afghanistan after 2014, "- said Panjikidze.

She stressed that it is a project of the three countries.

"Turkey and Azerbaijan are very interested in this road was used, and they are also lobbying for it.

First we said about it for a long time. We just try to push this question at every meeting. We do this during bilateral meetings, and it is possible that Some countries themselves will take out their loads. We already know the similar interests of some countries, "- said Maya Panjikidze.

Georgia’s Ivanishvili to visit US first

Ivanishvili is ready to hold his first visit to Washington after election victory.

Georgia’s richest man began talks on forming a government for the former Soviet republic yesterday and addressed fears over his links with Moscow by saying his first visit abroad would be to the United States.

Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili urged President Mikheil Saakashvili, a staunch U.S. ally, to resign following Oct. 1’s parliamentary election, which the president conceded his party had lost to Ivanishvili’s coalition. He has acknowledged his six-party coalition is fragile and that he faces a difficult balancing act between the West and Moscow, which welcomed his election victory as a chance for better ties.

Ivanishvili said he wants to mend ties with Moscow and denies Saakashvili’s accusations he is a Russian stooge. “My first visit abroad will be to Washington and the United States is our main partner,” Ivanishvili told reporters yesterday.

Russia hopeful

His remarks came as Russia said it hoped the election victory in Georgia of Ivanishvili’s opposition coalition will help normalize relations between the two neighbors, which fought a brief war in 2008. Moscow and Tbilisi broke diplomatic ties after Georgian forces were routed in five days in August 2008 in a war that ended with Russia recognizing breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. “It is obvious that Georgian society has voted for changes,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. “Such development would be welcomed in Russia.

Saakashvili concedes defeat in Georgia polls

Supporters of the opposition Georgian Dream party celebrate their winning in the parliamentary election, in Tbilisi, Georgia 01 October 2012.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has conceded defeat in the parliamentary election and says the opposition now has the right to form a government.

Speaking Tuesday on television, he said: "It’s clear from the preliminary results that the opposition has the lead and it should form the government. And I as president should help them with this."

Early results show an opposition coalition led by billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili with what appears to be an insurmountable lead as voters turned away from Saakashvili and the party that has been in power for almost nine years.

Georgia hunts prison torture 'whistleblower': report

Protests were sparked in Georgia after footage showing the torture and rape of inmates in the capital's main prison was aired by two television channels supportive of the opposition.

Georgian authorities have put a prison guard on Interpol's wanted list after he filmed videos of torturing inmates that hit the government ahead of polls next week, media reported today.

Former jail guard Vladimer Bedukadze says he made the prison videos and then fled to Belgium before releasing them, but he is wanted by the authorities for alleged involvement in the abuse of inmates.

Bedukadze says he made the videos of guards beating and raping male prisoners in a bid to stop abuses.

But prosecutors say he was paid to do it and should be arrested for allegedly "conducting activities constituting inhumane and degrading treatment and torture".

The torture scandal erupted ahead of elections to be held Monday in which President Mikheil Saakashvili's governing party faces a strong challenge from an opposition coalition led by the billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Four more prison officials were arrested for alleged torture on Thursday, taking the number detained so far to 16.

"Within the framework of the ongoing investigation as regards Penitentiary Department employees, four people were arrested at dawn for the inhumane treatment, torture and rape of inmates," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

The men were accused of committing the crimes in a jail in Georgia's second city of Kutaisi, the statement said.

Two ministers were forced to resign over the scandal and the authorities have promised a complete overhaul of the jail system to eradicate abuses.

Abuse of inmates happens in every Georgian jail, says torture whistleblower

The penal system in Georgia is rife with the sadistic abuse of inmates covered under a glossy façade, claims an ex-deputy chief warden, who released footage of beatings and rape allegedly taken in a Tbilisi prison.

Vladimir Bedukadze alleges that top Georgian officials, including President Saakashvili, were aware of the abuses at the Gdlani prison, which triggered a major political scandal in the country. He claims that inmates in Georgia face inhumane treatment for political reasons or simply for the amusement of those in charge of jails.

Bedukadze told RT that he wanted to release the footage after bringing his family to Belgium, where he is seeking political asylum. But the Georgian authorities found out about the incriminating evidence and tried to undermine it by painting him a crook and a fabricator.

RT: Vladimir, how long have you been making these videos?

Vladimir Bedukadze: I have been working as the prison’s deputy chief warden since 2008.

RT: Who gave the orders? Who in the government knew what was going on? And who kept this matter under wraps?

VB: I made those videos on the instruction of the chief warden, and then the chief warden showed these videos to Minister Akhalaia. I made those videos over the period of a year, or maybe six months, I’m not sure. I didn’t make them in a day or two. They were accumulated over a period of time, and eventually I had two hours of video. Minister Akhalaia was in charge of all correctional facilities. Then Saakashvili made him Deputy Defense Minister. Then he became Defense Minister, and then, Minister of Internal Affairs. Throughout this time, Akhalaia remained in charge of Georgia’s prison system.

RT: How do you know the chief warden showed those videos to Akhalaia?

VB: I just did what I was told to do. I made those videos for him, and then he would take the tape, and I don’t know what he would do with it. But Akhalaia would often come to the Gdlani prison, perhaps once or twice a week. He used to spend a lot of time talking to the chief warden in his office. Akhalaia was a very close ally of President Saakashvili, whom President Bush called a “beacon of democracy.” He was fully aware of what was going on in the prisons. This is why I insist that Saakashvili should resign. In a democratic country, it wouldn’t be the Minister of Interior Affairs or Defense Minister stepping down; the President would resign. President Saakashvili must step down if he is a democrat. But he’s no democrat. He keeps the entire nation in chaos and fear. He relies on criminals. He has people with blood on their hands working in high positions in the government.

RT: Was Saakashvili aware of what was going on?

VB: Of course he knew. Saakashvili was fully aware of what was going on. When Akhalaia was appointed minister in 2005, the system was very far from European standards. Then Saakashvili appointed Akhalaia minister, and Akhalaia started taking very tough steps. He would send security forces into prisons. They would break into prisons and beat up inmates. Even Akhalaia himself would often be there with a camera, filming everything. And then, I think, he would show those videos to Saakashvili in order to show him what kind of system he had built. European MPs would visit the Gdlani prison, and they were impressed. They would say, “How did you manage to build such a system? You have 4,000 inmates there, and this place is so quiet, we haven’t heard as much as somebody speaking loudly. It’s almost as if there were no inmates there at all.

RT: You’re saying this has been going on for some time. Why did you release these materials now?

VB: In May, I asked myself whether I wanted to serve the regime or be a man. I tendered my resignation, took the videos I had made and left the country. I was afraid because I thought they would kill me. So I came to Belgium and asked for political asylum. My family is currently in Georgia. This is why I asked the Belgian authorities to grant me and my family political asylum as soon as possible.

RT: Are you afraid that something may happen?

VB: Yes. Saakashvili is mentally unstable. Nobody knows what he may do.

RT: Do you have specific reasons to be concerned about your family? Have you received any threats?

VB: Yes, after I released those videos, some people called me on the phone a few times, telling me to keep my mouth shut.

RT: And then you moved to Belgium?

VB: No. Those phone calls were just a couple of days ago. I secretly left Georgia and came to Belgium in July. I have been here for three months now, and for financial reasons I have been unable to bring my family here. Belgian institutions tell me my videos can’t be published before my family comes here, because nobody knows what Saakashvili may do to them. As soon as my family is in Belgium, this footage will be released. When I came to Belgium, I played those tapes to the European Commission and the European Parliament, and they assured me that they would keep it secret and that Saakashvili would never find out about it. They kept their word, but somehow four or five days ago President Saakashvili found out about this tape, and then he told Akhalaia to get two of my friends who worked with me at the prison, and stage a beating of an inmate. So those two guys beat up an innocent inmate, and then that video was aired on Georgian television. They claim that they did it on my orders. The purpose of this fabrication was to create an impression that I was connected to the opposition. They say I was paid 2 million dollars for those videos. But I have never been involved in politics. I have never been in a political party. I didn’t care about politics.

RT: Your critics say the upcoming election is the reason why you have published these videos now.

VB: No, no. They started this by publishing their video! They contacted two of my friends, made that video with an inmate and played it on Georgian TV. What could I do? I had this tape with two hours of footage. I had to defend myself. They forced me to release those videos.

RT: You mean you released your videos in response to what they did?

VB: Right. This had nothing to do with the election.

RT: Let me get this straight. You’re saying that Saakashvili somehow found out that you had these videos…

VB: Actually, it was not Saakashvili. It was Minister Akhalaia who found out.

RT: And then they published their video to accuse you, and after that you released your videos.

VB: Right. Except that their video was staged, it was a fabrication. Those two friends of mine are in prison now. Actually, four of my friends are in prison. This is just to put psychological pressure on me. Saakashvili and Akhalaia accused me of torture and issued a warrant for me. I’m a wanted man now.

RT: Who gave you the order to make those videos? And who among the high-ranking officials knew about what was going on?

VB: Nobody – just the chief warden and I. I was deputy chief warden. He wanted me to film some interesting moments: for example, when police arrest an opposition activist, or a prominent figure, is arrested, he wanted it on tape. Probably, they intended to use those videos later against those people. The chief warden would take those videos to Akhalaia, and Akhalaia would take them to the President. They used it for entertainment. They enjoyed watching how helpless people were in their hands. Once they take you to prison, you are nobody. You have no dignity. This is why these videos caused such an outrage in Georgia. This is why all those young people are protesting.

RT: How did they pick inmates for torture?

VB: They just did it for entertainment, or, if an inmate had something to do with politics, if he was Saakashvili’s enemy, they would pick him. The system is extremely politicized.