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Compiled by Eter Tsotniashvili
Wednesday, July 2
“14 prisoners died in June”

Sakartvelos Respublika reports on prison deaths last month:

“According to the prison department of the Justice Ministry, 14 prisoners died in June in prisons and prison hospitals. The figure is not very different from the previous month when 12 prisoners died in May.

According to the data 44 prisoners have died since the beginning of 2008, including 32-year-old Yuri M who committed suicide on May 5 in Rustavi prison. He had been in prison since 1996 for robbery and murder.

The main causes of death in prisons are tuberculosis, heart disease and AIDS.”



“United Opposition is going to inform the world”

Akhali Taoba writes that United Opposition member Kakha Kukava promises to make international waves over the arrest of the teenaged son of another leading coalition member:

“A leading member of the United Opposition, Kakha Kukava, said the recent arrest and charging of Eka Beselia’s son is politically motivated and added that in the Soviet Union, Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Merab Kostava spent some time in prisons but the government did not arrest their children.

According to Kukava the current government is repressing people who do not want to be the [ruling party’s] satellites.

Kukava says the United Opposition is going to inform the world of this. He said that [President Mikheil] Saakashvili is the number one dictator in Europe, and arrests 15-year-old children while a Georgian parliamentary delegation is in Strasbourg presenting a report about lowering the criminal age of responsibility.”



“Presentation of Burjanadze’s fund to be held in July”

Akhali Taoba reports that former parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze’s new political think tank will be unveiled next week:

“The presentation of the Democratic Development Fund, founded by former speaker of parliament Nino Burjanadze, will be held on July 7 at the Courtyard Marriott.

The details of the event are not known yet, but according to released information Tbilisi’s elite will attend the presentation.

According to the news agency Pirveli, President [Mikheil] Saakashvili is among those invited, but it is not known yet whether Burjanadze’s old friend will go to the event.

Information about Burjanadze’s fund was released some weeks ago. According to her the fund will support democratic development in Georgia.

The presentation is planned for July 7, 14:00 p.m.”