The Messenger #202 (1469)

Tuesday, October 23, 2007, #202 (1469)

News in Brief:

45 percent of Georgia support idea of constitutional monarchy, survey suggests
The idea of converting Georgia into a constitutional monarchy, as recently proposed by Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, has been well received by the general public, a recent survey suggests.
The newspaper Kviris Palitra found that of 402 respondents, 45 percent support the idea of a transition to constitutional monarchy.
29.6 percent were against the idea and 25.4 percent did not answer.
(Black Sea Press)

17 detained for drug dealing in Tbilisi
17 people have been arrested on charges of dealing heroin and methadone, announced Irakli Bazerashvili, deputy head of Tbilisi Police Department, on October 22.
“The fight against drug addiction is a priority for Georgian authorities. A large scale anti-drug campaign has begun,” Bazerashvili stated.
He added that the detained are all Tbilisi residents, and most of them are drug users.
The drugs were allegedly trafficked from Azerbaijan by Ramin Khajaev, a resident of Marneuli in eastern Georgia.
“After searching Khajaev’s property a large quantity of heroine and methadone was found,” Bazerashvili added.
(Black Sea Press)

Shevardnadze calls for a boycott of Sochi Olympics
Former president Eduard Shevardnadze, in a meeting with former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, called for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi if Russia doesn’t settle the conflict in Abkhazia.
“At the meeting with Genscher we discussed the problem of Abkhazia and Georgian-Russian relations… I praised Putin for returning Georgians to the Gali region, but I also noted that it was only the beginning. If Russia does not resolve the issues of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, it must be punished, as was the Soviet Union in 1980 for taking troops to Afghanistan,” Shevardnadze said in an interview with Georgian newspaper Kviris Palitra, published on October 22.
(Black Sea Press)

Labor Party: president’s family after Tbilisi Water
The opposition Labor Party is alleging that President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli are both trying to buy Tbilisi Water, the company which supplies the capital with water.
Party official Giorgi Gugava claimed at a press conference that the president and the prime minister are competing to take control of the company.
(Prime News)

Kindergarten teachers to receive vouchers
Teachers at nurseries and kindergartens will receive vouchers as part of the government’s one-off assistance payment scheme currently underway.
Nino Burjanadze, Speaker of Parliament, stated at a Monday cabinet session that she had agreed on the arrangement with the president.
(Prime News)

Georgian film to be shown in Russia after a long break
“Russian Triangle,”a film by Aleko Tsabadze, will be shown in Russian theaters from November 8.
The National Cinematography Center of Georgia said it is the first time a Georgian film has been shown in a foreign country for a long time.
The center has submitted the film for consideration in the Best Foreign Film category of the Oscars.
(Prime News)