Clément Girardot

Georgia increasingly blocks entry to Western journalists amid authoritarian turn - Committee to Protect Journalists When British investigative journalist Will Neal was turned back at Georgia’s border with Armenia in May, he became the fifth of at least six European journalists in recent months to be denied entry in...

In the past, #Georgia was open to international press. In the last ten months, this, like so much else, has gone into full reverse.

Here is the story.
@clementgirardot.bsky.social @willneal.bsky.social

cpj.org/2025/07/geor...

Georgian authoritie facilitates “snitching” to report violations of the new foreign agent law, which comes into force in a few days.

A new hotline is activated for the purpose. Predictably, this will just be a sham operation to show the population this legislation has wide support in society.

Sounds a bit like a broken record.

Georgian Dream is watching: how AI-powered surveillance is used against Tbilisi protesters When police forces left the streets, the number of cameras increased, keeping watch on the daily protests.

Georgian Dream is watching: how AI-powered surveillance is used against Tbilisi protesters

oc-media.org/georgian-dre...

Welcome to the club!

presentation of new book on #Georgia in French by Clement Girardot, #Geneva on April 28 & #Paris on May 13. Please share with anyone you know who may be interested! Also perhaps as solidarity as Clement recently was refused entry, too.

Amazon link to the book:
www.amazon.fr/G%C3%A9orgie...

Watchdog: Georgian Public Broadcaster Faces “Severe Institutional Crisis” - Civil Georgia The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) is facing a "severe institutional crisis" manifested in politi

The Georgian Public Broadcaster is facing a “severe institutional crisis” manifested in political bias, censorship of opposition and pro-Western views, and systematic pressure on dissenting employees, the Media Advocacy Coalition says.

For the first quarter of 2025, business confidence in Georgia decreased (by 8.8 index points) and reached -5.0. The negative change in was driven by decreased past performance as well as pessimistic expectations.
A first negative since COVID.

ISET study: iset-pi.ge/en/indexes/4...

1/ French journalist Clément Girardot, who has been working in Georgia since 2012 and has a wife and child who are Georgian citizens, was denied entry into the country.

‼️Announcement in French, English, and Georgian about my deportation — another attack on press freedom by Georgian Dream.

❗️Communiqué de @rsf.org sur mon renvoi du territoire géorgien, une nouvelle attaque du Rêve Géorgie contre la liberté de la presse.

🇹🇷Mon dernier article sur la situation en Turquie.
📣«Nous ne pouvons plus jouer selon les règles d'Erdogan, nous devons maintenant remettre en question tout le jeu», lance Kivanç Eliaçik, responsable des relations internationales de la confédération progressiste DISK

www.evenement.ch/articles/tur...

I told the AI to turn one of the photos of me and my friends from the Georgia protest into a cartoon.

The regime has adopted multiple dictatorial laws in the last couple of days, including strict limits and censorship on media, and forbidding academic work for civil servants without the approval of supervisors, guaranteeing regime indoctrination.
I can’t follow it all, too many.

For a Swiss newspaper, I have begun collecting and translating letters from Georgian political prisoners. Most are deeply emotional, insightful, and beautifully written.
Rarely have I encountered such a powerful tribute to the profession of journalism.

Visual summary of Art on Rustaveli this night. (There was lots more to see.) #art #Georgia

Georgia: Criminal justice system abused to suppress protests The severe custodial penalties imposed on activists underscore how Georgia’s criminal justice system has been weaponized to stifle dissent, instill fear, and silence free speech

"Disturbingly, despite extensive evidence, not a single police officer has been held accountable for brutal, unlawful use of force against protesters over the past 12 months.” www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

Meanwhile, the state is milking other citizens who stand peacefully in the streets for the future of their country, imposing exorbitant fines of 2,000 to 5,000 GEL through a corrupt police and judicial system.

While pensions for those over 70 are around $160 (and just $120 for those under 70), making it impossible to survive even two weeks on that amount, he has announced a tenfold increase in the reward for reaching the age of 100—to $3,500 (10,000 GEL).

Every day, politics in Georgia reaches new heights of absurdity and cynicism.
Today, the Mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze, launched what can only be described as a kind of Squid Game for pensioners.

Insane that as Georgian Dream again ratchets up the violence, attacks (former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia in Batumi; Lasha Gabitashvili in Abu Dhabi) are being carried out not by your garden-variety thugs but by party MPs themselves (Dito Samkharadze; Irakli Zarqua, Viktor Sanikidze).

"Fearless" art space in #Tbilisi right now, connecting to the idea of standing up to authoritarian assault, different galleries & projects coming together, at Tbilisi Photo Museum /Stamba, also running tomorrow. Go see!

GD Announces Creation of Parliamentary Commission to Investigate UNM’s Alleged “Systemic Crimes” On January 9, Georgian Dream's Executive Secretary and GD Parliamentary Majority Leader Mamuka Mdinaradze announced that the GD parliament is planning to establish a temporary investigative commission...

Nothing quite says “we’re streamlining political persecution” like forming a parliamentary commission to “investigate systemic crimes” by the previous government a) well over a decade after the fact and b) as your own abuses surpass even the darkest day of the last admin…

civil.ge/archives/650...

Marche des francophones à Tbilissi aujourd’hui #georgiaprotests

Bitter irony that the men driving Georgia towards becoming an authoritarian, theocratic nightmare are themselves liberals. Prime example: minigarch Irakli Rukhadze, owner of H̵u̵t̵u̵ ̵P̵o̵w̵e̵r̵ ̵R̵a̵d̵i̵o̵ TV Imedi, a Goebbelsian figure at the heart of the regime. 1/n

The Georgian flag is soaked in blood. A symbol of the struggle of the Georgian people.

#GeorgiaProtest
#TerrorInGeorgia