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The News in Brief

Monday, October 1
Swiss Ambassador’s statement

As a representative of Switzerland I am looking forward to being allowed to observe the democratic parliamentary elections in Georgia. Both countries, Georgia and Switzerland, are small, very dynamic, and extremely lovely countries. I personally worked for peaceful conflict resolution throughout my professional career. I hate any form of violence. After the horrible videos we were all forced to watch I can only call on every single person and citizen in Georgia: no more violence. It is enough! In a democratic country any problem can be solved by political and legal means. Violence and hatred do not change societies for the better. I wish you all the best for the upcoming Election Day. Good luck!

Guenther Baechler, Ambassador of Switzerland to Sakartvelo (Georgia)



EU Ambassador to Georgia statement

I hope Georgia will be able to organize peaceful and successful elections and citizens will be able to vote freely, EU Ambassador to Georgia Philip Dimitrov told journalists after a meeting in the Central Election Commission. The meeting was held between Zurab Kharatishvili, Chairman of the Central Election Commission and the diplomatic corps.

Kharatishvili confirmed that the administration was ready to hold fair, transparent and fair elections.
(IPN)



Russian troops remain along Georgian borders after Caucasus 2012 is over

Russian troops, which participated in a large-scale military exercise recently (Caucasus 2012), remain along Georgia's borders even though the trainings exercises have been completed. Some political analysts have already commented on this fact, seeing parallels with the developments in 2008, when Russia launched similar exercises in July and began military intervention in Georgia in August. Caucasus 2012 was conducted in the occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia Regions. The scenario of the exercises and the number of the officers involved in it was so confidential, that even Russian media sources, which are close to the Kremlin, could not obtain information about it. The only report that was made by the Russian media is that Russia deployed tits strongest troops in the aforementioned regions.

European Union`s observers were the first to release information about the large-scale military mobilization along Georgia's borders. The sudden growth of military troops and the maneuvers on the territory of the occupied South Ossetia region caused strong concern.

The places of the exercises and the time they were carried out became the reason of concern for famous military analyst John Chick too. Chick worked at various positions at the Pentagon for years and chaired the department of post-soviet republics. The American expert looks carefully at the trainings and asserts that the plans of the Kremlin go farther than just ordinary trainings.
(Rustavi 2)



Bandits want to get back - Mikheil Saakashvili

Bandits want to get back, President Mikheil Saakashvili said while visiting the Mchedlishvili family in Tsnori. "Tsnori remembers bandits best of all. These people are trying to get back. One of them is the thief Sushanashvili with the nickname Rustavski. Some say he has already bought a ticket and is going to arrive in Georgia on 3 October," the President said. "We have already taken care of Sighnaghi. Now we have to take care of Tsnori," Saakashvili said. According to him, the problems of transport as well as water and gas supply should be solved in Tsnori.
(IPN)



Bidzina Ivanishvili not going to use constitutional change and take part in tomorrow’s elections

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the leader of the ‘kartuli Otsneba’ (Georgian Dream) coalition, is not going to use the constitutional change and take part in the elections, spokesperson Maia Panjikidze said. According to her, Ivanishvili will just accompany his wife to the polling station.

"Our position has not changed. Bidzina Ivanishvili is not going to use the constitutional change and take part in the elections. He will just accompany his wife to the polling station in Sololaki district’, Panjikidze said. Bidzina Ivanishvili expressed his negative position regarding the constitutional changes from the very beginning.
(IPN)



Domukhovski says GD is a Russian project

Georgian Dream is a Russian project - says the former MP of the Supreme Council of Soviet Georgia Victor Domukhovski, who was released from prison during the Shevardnadze era with the help of European organizations. Domukhovski currently lives in Poland.

In his interview with Georgian media, Domukhovski reviews the current political situation in Georgia and says that the Georgian Dream will fail in fulfilling the order of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Consequently, the opposition leader will implement plan-B, which aims at causing disorder in the country on the next day of the election, October 2.

Representatives of Georgian Diasporas in France and Finland have also made similar statements, demonstrating support to the government of Georgia and the ruling party National Movement.
(Rustavi 2)



Audio tapes, which were spread by Bidzina Ivanishvili’s guard Beso Surmava, are false – Paul Joel

The audio tapes, which were spread by Bidzina Ivanishvili’s guard Beso Surmava, are false. They were fabricated via computer virus, Poul Joel, expert in computer issues, one of the heads of NSI and Bidzina Ivanishvili’s advisor for security issues, told journalists.

According to him, a cyber attack was carried out against computers of the Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili’s family members."Problems started in June 2012. We launched an investigation and found the virus ‘Malvea’ in the computers of the Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili’s family members," Paul Joel said. According to him, a new type of “Malvea’ virus was revealed in the Georgian Dream computers in August. The virus would not enter the computers without involvement of state structures given the type of the virus. "After studying the computer details, we concluded that the government was involved in the case. Consequently, it is clear that the released audio tapes were false’, Paul Joel said. According to him, the virus first appeared when the Georgian Dream got a letter from Frank Vizner, a former US high official.

He added that on Saturday Bera Ivanishvili’s site was also hacked.
(IPN)