This is Tbilisi Calling

Jailed Donkey Satirists Defiant

2009-11-16T10:59:00.004+04:00

Some people had been expecting that the harsh sentences handed down to two young online activists last week in Azerbaijan would cast a chill over pro-democracy internet campaigning in the energy-rich, politically intolerant former Soviet state. According to some bloggers there, however, the prosecution of Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade could possibly have the opposite effect, inspiring other young people to speak out more openly. Prominent Azeri blogger Ali Novruzov emailed me at the weekend to say this:

"This case was seen from the very beginning as an assault on online speech, that the small community of citizen journalists and activists who dare to speak their mind and criticise the government policies, thus it could be predicted that after Emin and Adnan receive harsh sentences despite huge international and internal pressures, they would shut up or lessen their tone. But it went as unpredictable as the trial itself was. From what I witness now, the youth activists and citizen journalists have become more politically conscious, outspoken and more organized."

Here's more on the story from my regular column in The Moscow Times:

"I'm ready to take any punishment for the ideals I believe in. It is an honour for me to be imprisoned for my ideals."

These were the defiant last words of a young Azeri internet activist, just before he and a fellow campaigner were taken from a courtroom last week in the capital, Baku, to start prison sentences for ‘hooliganism’. Emin Milli was jailed for two-and-a-half years and Adnan Hajizade for two years after they were convicted of starting a fight in a restaurant. But their friends insist they were prosecuted because they were using online media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to build support for pro-democracy youth movements in Azerbaijan.

"If there was a sentence, it means they were guilty," a ruling party spokesman declared. Supporters of the two young activists, however, claim that the evidence was fabricated and the verdict was intended as a warning: public criticism of the authorities can put you behind bars. "Our special thanks to the Azerbaijani government for they showed to whole world our ‘justice’ at work," wrote one Baku-based blogger. International rights groups and western diplomats have denounced the prosecution, but Azerbaijan’s massive energy resources have made its government increasingly impervious to external censure.

The case follows a series of clampdowns on traditional media and the imprisonment of several opposition journalists. Political satire is seen as particularly risky; Milli and Hajizade were arrested not long after distributing a comical video clip which featured a talking donkey lampooning official corruption. Local analysts have suggested that the authorities could also be concerned about the rise of new generation of internet-savvy, independent-minded youth in Azerbaijan. Television stations largely echo the government’s opinions, but the use of online media has been increasing significantly and is harder to control.

Friends of Milli and Hajizade have told me that they believe the case was an attempt to scare other Azeri internet activists into silence. But when I asked one of them if she thought this was likely to succeed, I got a surprising response: "People are not afraid any more, they are proud of Emin and Adnan and want to continue everything," she replied. "The current spirit among young people fighting for democracy and liberty now is: this is not the end, this is a great beginning."

Heretics Nabbed for 'Indecent' Video Satire

2009-11-02T12:07:00.003+04:00

The Georgian police are reported to have tracked down the thought criminals responsible for "indecent and insulting" satirical videos which targeted the head of the Orthodox Church and caused a nationwide scandal in this fervently religious country. A statement from the Interior Ministry identified the culprits as a school pupil and a student. It's not clear yet what action will be taken against them, if any, although the authorities seem to have been motivated to launch the investigation because of the public outcry against the crudely-produced video clips.

More on the latest religious rows in Georgia from my regular column in The Moscow Times:

Is Halloween anti-Christian and anti-Georgian? That’s what some people were asking here in Tbilisi last week after the Orthodox Patriarch, Ilia II – the single most respected figure in the country – called on people to forsake witches’ broomsticks and ghoulish make-up and renounce celebrations of the annual rite. “There are people in Georgia who are trying to bring foreign holidays and attitudes into our country, which may ruin our own traditions,” one of the Patriarch’s devotees told a local newspaper.

The Halloween debate followed a nationwide scandal over a series of animated videos which appeared to mock the elderly Patriarch. In a rare display of political unity, the authorities and opposition both condemned satirical clips which were digitally manipulated to show the Orthodox leader cussing out the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Tea Tutberidze, who works for a pro-government think-tank in Tbilisi, first posted the videos on her Facebook page, and became the target for the wrath of the faithful. “God will punish you, your fingers will shrivel up,” one online commentator testified; a remark followed by some distinctly un-Christian threats of violence and murder. The Patriarchate claimed that a “dirty campaign” was being waged against the Church – a view echoed by opposition politicians, who insinuated that President Saakashvili was actually behind it all.

Despite the unholy row, Tutberidze was unrepentant. She denounced the Patriarch for recent comments in which he seemed to accuse Saakashvili of failing to avert the war with Russia last year, alleged that the Kremlin maintained a “power base” within the religious hierarchy, and insisted that free speech should know no limits.

But in a country where the Patriarch has become an increasingly potent and unquestionable figure, criticism of the religious establishment is a fast track to pariah status. The Church has shown its political might on several occasions over the past couple of years, halting opposition hunger strikes at Easter last year, and forcing a “sinful” television series to suspend broadcasts.

Some urban liberals are worried about the state-backed Church’s influence on public life, especially in schools, but don’t want to express their views as forcefully as the heretical Tutberidze. Although more than 15 per cent of the population follows other faiths, most see Orthodox Christianity as an integral part of Georgian identity, and anyone who dares to cross them can expect a rough ride.

God on Wheels

2009-10-16T09:59:00.005+04:00

People in Georgia are deeply proud of their Orthodox Christian traditions - but this driver, seen on Georgia's main highway this week with a miniature church strapped to the roof of his car, obviously takes his religion more seriously than most...

Poland Invades Georgia (In a Friendly Way)

2009-09-26T19:53:00.007+04:00

The first festival of contemporary Polish culture in Georgia started last night in fine style in Tbilisi at Club 33a (an atmospheric ampitheatre in one of the city's best parks). Polish people are well-loved here in Georgia, partly because of their common sufferings at the hands of Moscow regimes. Also, every other taxi driver in Tbilisi seems to have a Polish grandma or great-grandfather, or has made a life-changing trip to Poland during his formative years - and generally asks something like: "Do you know Agnieszka from Warsaw? I haven't seen her for 30 years. No, I don't know her surname..."

The Polish festival climaxes next week with concerts of Polish-Georgian rock'n'roll/hip-hop/folk fusion and performances by the legendary Teatr Osmego Dnia (Eighth Day Theatre), who were part of the underground artistic resistance during the Communist years in Poland. They're going to rock the Rose Revolution Square with a performance called The Ark, with a genuine ark which they're bringing all the way from Poland..

'Thriller' in Azerbaijan

2009-09-17T18:55:00.004+04:00

"No one's going to save you from the beast about to strike..."

Michael Jackson, Baku-style. The ultimate wedding video?

"I'm a Hooligan Too!"

2009-09-17T18:35:00.006+04:00

Testimony started yesterday in the case of two satirical Azerbaijani internet activists accused of 'hooliganism' after they allegedly got into a fight in a restaurant - a prosecution which campaigners believe is intended to intimidate pro-democracy bloggers in Azerbaijan. Protesters outside the court in Baku chanted "Freedom!" and wore T-shirts stating: "I'm a Hooligan Too!" More details from EurasiaNet here, plus a strong denunciation of the case - "sham trial", etc - from Reporters Without Borders here. (Photo from the court protest courtesy of www.irfs.az)

Fall and Rise of the Soviet Space Apes

2009-09-08T20:56:00.002+04:00

More from my recent Abkhazia trip - a research institute which used to send monkeys into space for the Soviet Union but fell into disrepair during the chaotic war years is now seeking to revive its fortunes. EurasiaNet also published a more in-depth piece on the institute last year here.

'This is Vladimir': A Soundscape from Abkhazia

2009-09-06T11:15:00.016+04:00

I've uploaded a soundscape which I mixed using material recorded during a trip to the disputed Black Sea region of Abkhazia in August. It isn't exactly reportage, nor exactly musique concrete either. It features natural sounds from the Abkhaz coast, the voices of soldiers, a government official, and an Abkhaz mother who named her newborn son after Vladimir Putin. It's an attempt to convey some of the atmosphere of this beautiful, troubled territory at a specific moment in time, without any commentary or journalistic voiceover.

You can listen to it or download it here.

Thanks are due to my fellow blogger Guy Degen - the original audio was recorded on his camera - and to photographer Justyna Mielnikiewicz, who also worked with me on the trip to Abkhazia. (The photo above shows a young Russian tourist posing as an Abkhaz warrior for a photo at a seaside resort; I'm sure the tourist lad had no idea of the irony...)

Azeri Bloggers to Stand Trial

2009-08-28T10:14:00.004+04:00

The trial of two young internet pro-democracy activists on charges of hooliganism is due to begin in Baku in early September. As reported by Global Voices Online, the two men, Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, will now also face an additional charge of causing mild injury to an unspecified victim. They were originally detained after being accused of starting a fight in a restaurant, although they claim they were the victims of an unprovoked attack by unknown assailants. Their supporters believe they were targeted because of their campaigning activities, which include the online distribution of satirical videos poking fun at the government. Some suggest that the authorities in Azerbaijan are trying to cast a chill over the blogosphere, after a series of restrictive moves against independent and opposition media in the country. Updates from the campaign to free them are available here.

Vladimir Putin: Godfather of Abkhazia

2009-08-27T11:23:00.005+04:00

"This is Vladimir. He is my first son."

Indira Bartsits proudly gestures towards one of her infant twins, who were born just minutes before the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, unexpectedly visited her room at a maternity hospital in Sukhumi, the Abkhaz capital, during his trip to the disputed region earlier this month.

She said she only decided to name the child after the Russian premier on the spur of the moment, but agreed that she was grateful to Moscow for recognising Abkhazia as an independent state a year ago.

Doctors at the hospital suggested she should name the other twin after Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, but she preferred to call him after her brother-in-law, who was killed during Abkhazia’s battles for independence from Georgia in the early 1990s.

Read more from my recent trip to Abkhazia on the Al Jazeera website here - and more about Georgia seizing ships carrying fuel to Abkhazia (including the latest on the strange dispute about the opening of a Benetton shop in Sukhumi) here.

Rhyming for Freedom in Baku

2009-08-24T18:31:00.003+04:00

Azerbaijani rappers Shirband have released a powerful tune in support of two young pro-democracy internet activists who're in jail in Baku awaiting trial on charges of 'hooliganism'. It's a furiously orchestrated piece of protest hip hop, with lyrics which go something like this:

"1937 [the year of Stalin's purges] is still going on, even more strictly, more seriously, now with oil and gas, the youth are being arrested, we always feel these black jeeps following us..."

You can download it here, and read the latest on the case from the two men's supporters here.

No Freedom for Donkey Satirists

2009-07-21T09:27:00.006+04:00

Friends of two detained internet activists in Azerbaijan sang and wept in the street outside court yesterday after their appeal for release was dismissed. Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli were arrested for ‘hooliganism’ after allegedly being involved in a fight in a restaurant in the capital, Baku, but their friends believe they were targeted for their use of online media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to build support for pro-democracy youth groups in this oil-rich but politically intolerant country. This satirical video, featuring a talking donkey, is the most celebrated example. There’s more on their activities in the OL! Movement blog, while their case has become an international issue partly due to their own networking skills and the mainstream media's post-Iran obsession with online culture, but also thanks to the tireless work of other bloggers, like the team at Global Voices Online.

I'm in Baku to cover the case for Al Jazeera, and people working in what remains of the independent media here in Azerbaijan have been telling me they are increasingly nervous about who the authorities might target next. This is a country where critical journalists have often been jailed, assaulted and even killed, where international broadcasters have been forced off the airwaves, and where television is relentlessly pro-government. Now anti-government bloggers have received what some of them perceive to be a warning not to step out of line too often.

It's a bit of an embarrassment for any country to be seen to be jailing someone for dressing up in a donkey costume. But Azerbaijan’s interior ministry insists that this is just a case of “simple hooliganism” which should not be politicised, and has warned foreign embassies in Baku to stop complaining about the arrests. The two young activists could receive prison sentences if they're ultimately convicted; there’s an innovative online ‘video petition’ for their release here.

Pop Patriots Sing for Victory

2009-07-14T16:24:00.007+04:00

Can pop videos offer an insight into the political psychology of a nation? Here are some thoughts from my column in The Moscow Times:

On a cross-country train journey from Georgia’s Black Sea resort of Batumi last week, video monitors relayed a constant blare of Caucasian pop to distract passengers and their fractious infants from the humidity and tedium of the seven-hour trip to the capital, Tbilisi. But amid the videos’ chirpy choruses and dancing girls, there were also unsettling echoes of the conflicts which have consumed this nation.

Most Georgian music videos are resolutely low-budget affairs, as one would expect in a small, impoverished country. One particularly rudimentary clip screened on the train depicted three young lads prancing around clumsily in front of pink psychedelic curtains in what looked like their parents’ living room. Others inevitably featured a cast of scantily-clad disco-dollies and ludicrously-attired rappers; aspiring post-Soviet Eminems and 2Pacs comically imitating American hip-hop choreography.

But there were also patriotic clips with distinctly martial themes. One of them – made before last year’s war with Russia - showed a Georgian starlet in a tight-fitting uniform crooning for the troops at a military base, urging them onwards as army choppers swooped low over the stage. In another, corpses on a battlefield mouthed the lyrics as a rapper rhymed about winning back Abkhazia and South Ossetia while simultaneously offering the people of those disputed regions “love, friendship and unity”.

A video made in 2007 as part of an ill-fated Georgian campaign to peacefully oust the Moscow-backed South Ossetian leader, Eduard Kokoity, also appeared desperately naïve from a post-war perspective. The clip ends with footage of the South Ossetian strongman smiling and waving goodbye; tragically ironic in hindsight, because it was ethnic Georgians who were ultimately forced out of the enclave, while Kokoity consolidated his grip on power.

The most lavish Georgian productions of recent years have mostly been made for political purposes: President Mikheil Saakashvili’s election campaign video, ‘Misha is Cool’, or opposition hero Utsnobi’s clip depicting Saakashvili as a lascivious, brutal emperor. Neither of these was being shown on the Batumi-Tbilisi train; nor, unfortunately, was Anri Jokhadze’s ‘Happy Nation’, which hilariously lampoons some of the key players in Georgia’s current political stand-off between government and opposition. It may not be subtle, but in these uncertain, conflict-weary times, Jokhadze’s warped satire is an antidote to the delusional sermons of the pop propagandists.

Altered State - New Edition

2009-07-02T08:55:00.004+04:00

A new, updated edition of my first book, Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House, is published today by Serpent's Tail. This is what the publishers' blurb says about it:

From its first publication in 1997, Altered State established itself as the definitive text on Ecstasy and dance culture. This new edition sees Matthew Collin cast a fresh eye on the heady events of the acid house ‘Summer of Love’ and the rave scene’s euphoric escalation into commercial excess as MDMA became a mass-market narcotic.

Altered State is the best-selling book on Ecstasy culture, using a cast of memorable characters to track the origins of the scene and its drug through psychedelic subcults, underground gay discos and the Balearic paradise of Ibiza, to the point where Tony Blair was using an Ecstasy anthem as an election campaign song.

Altered State critically examines the ideologies and myths of the scene, documenting the criminal underside to the blissed-out image, shedding new light on the social history of the most spectacular youth movement of the twentieth century.

Reviews:

‘Written with such wit, verve, empathy and profound intelligence. I can't recommend this marvellous piece of work enough’ Irvine Welsh

‘Altered State is not just timely; it was crying out to be written’ Independent

Roses in the Ruins

2009-06-29T12:55:00.004+04:00

In the frontline village of Ergneti, red and white roses bloom next to the smoke-blackened shells of what were once people's homes.

Nearby, at a fortified checkpoint, Georgian interior ministry forces stand almost face to face with their Russian and South Ossetian enemies.

The opposing sides' flags have been raised just metres from each other; a symbolic reminder of a political stand-off which remains highly volatile more than ten months after last year's war.

Apart from birdsong, the only sound comes from the engines of armoured vehicles and the bomb-shredded metal roofs of houses creaking gently in the summer breeze.

"At night it's terrible, because you can hear all the burnt metal rattling in the wind," says a Georgian farmer who was sitting next to the ruins of his home.

Like tens of thousands of others, Jemal Doijashvili and his family (pictured above) fled during the war, but later returned to live in the only undamaged room in their shell-scarred house.

They have no water, no electricity and no work, but Jemal offered green plums from his orchard as he took refuge from the midday heat beneath the shattered remnants of an ornate staircase.

Read the rest of my report for Al Jazeera on the fears raised by the impending departure of international monitoring missions from Georgia's conflict zones here.

'IKEA' Comes to Abkhazia

2009-06-16T08:36:00.003+04:00

After the row over the opening of a Benetton fashion store in the disputed region of Abkhazia, which caused Georgian Benetton outlets to go on strike in protest, an EUobserver.com blogger reports that improvised IKEA, Mango and Zara shops are trading in the Abkhaz capital, Sukhumi. They aren't official outlets, but use pirated logos to give the impression that they might be (see Nicu Popescu's photo). Wily businessmen, it seems, are finding a way around the trade embargo to ensure that Abkhazia gets its share of affordable but hard-to-assemble shelving units.

Temperature Rises, Anger Boils Over

2009-06-15T19:01:00.006+04:00

There have been worrying signs in recent days that anti-government protests in Tbilisi - now in their third consecutive month - have the potential to descend into civil unrest. Protesters have been blocking several streets in the Georgian capital around the clock with imitation prison cells, which are intended to highlight the alleged authoritarianism of President Mikheil Saakashvili. Parliament has been under non-stop blockade, and when MPs held a session there on Friday for the first time since April, they were confronted and chased by protesters throwing eggs and stones.

Today there were further clashes; the first came when a group of men started demolishing the cells outside the state chancellory (see photo). The men said they were local residents frustrated with the constant obstruction, but the protesters claimed they were provocateurs working for the authorities.

The second clash, outside police headquarters, was more serious. Eyewitnesses said that policemen, some wearing black ski masks and others in plain clothes, charged a group of protesters and attacked them with batons. I saw one photo-journalist who had been seriously beaten; other reporters were also assaulted and their cameras seized, and almost 40 people were arrested. The interior ministry insisted that the officers simply wanted “to unblock the entrance to the police station and restore traffic movement”, although the deputy minister did apologise for the beating of the journalists.

The police HQ was also the scene of violence last month when a Georgian pop star who has become an opposition icon led a late-night march on the building, then tried to scale the gates to free some detained activists. Police responded by using batons and firing plastic projectiles at the demonstrators.

The authorities have offered concessions to resolve this lengthy political dispute, but the opposition leaders have rejected them. What they want is Saakashvili’s resignation. But the president has refused to step down or hold early elections, and so with numbers attending the protest rallies falling, frustration has started to set in and tempers have become strained in the summer heat. Up to now, the authorities have not cracked down hard on the protests, as they did in November 2007. They want to prove that Georgia is a democratic country where dissent is tolerated. But their resolve may be tested as daily demonstrations continue here in Tbilisi, with no end in sight.

Pop Star Lampoons 'Happy Nation' of Georgia

2009-06-01T22:56:00.005+04:00

“Is there a nation as happy as ours?”

Sometimes it takes a supreme pop satirist to sum up a twisted situation in a suitably surreal way. Now, the past two gruelling months of confrontation between opposition and government in Georgia have been encapsulated in a hilarious pop video by singer Anri Jokhadze.

Taking as its theme a phrase from nineteenth-century Georgian poet-hero Ilia Chavchavadze, the Happy Nation video lampoons President Mikheil Saakashvili, his opponents, and various other Georgian celebrities, as well as satirising well-known Georgian pop-propaganda videos.

Anyone who’s familiar with the drama that’s been playing itself out on the streets in Tbilisi in recent weeks should take time out to watch. The final frames – if you get the references – are truly tragic-comic.

The Rise and Rise of 'Saint Gia'

2009-06-01T09:25:00.005+04:00

Some notes on the controversial pop star who's become the hero of the Georgian opposition this year, from my column in The Moscow Times. Photograph from Civil Georgia.

More than seven weeks of non-stop opposition protests in Georgia may not have achieved their desired goal – the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili – but they have turned one man into a political phenomenon: pop star Giorgi Gachechiladze.

For many opposition supporters, Gachechiladze is a patriotic icon and a valiant crusader for justice. Since January, the star - best known by his stage name Utsnobi (‘The Unknown’) - has confined himself to a purpose-built ‘prison cell’ in a television studio, from which he broadcasts an anti-government reality-TV show. His example inspired the opposition to blockade streets outside parliament and the presidential palace in Tbilisi with hundreds of imitation ‘cells’.

Utsnobi’s arrival at a showpiece rally at the national football stadium last week invoked mass delirium and a display of devotion which no Georgian politician could hope to inspire right now (see photo). Tens of thousands of people rose to cheer as the singer, dressed in gleaming white, was borne aloft on a lap of honour around the arena. Tears flowed as he doffed his trademark urchin’s cap to his delirious admirers. The fiery speeches of the opposition leaders who followed him to the podium seemed tepid in comparison.

After the rally, one phone-in caller to his TV show was ecstatic: “You are not Gia, you are Saint Giorgi!” she gushed, insisting that the star had been sent by God to save the nation. Another prominent activist declared: “America had Martin Luther King, Georgia has Gia Gachechiladze.”

Utsnobi’s brother, opposition politician Levan Gachechiladze, ran against Mikheil Saakashvili in presidential elections last year. Both have a populist, streetwise style and a taste for intemperate rhetoric. When I interviewed Utsnobi in his ‘cell’ a few weeks ago, he compared Saakashvili to Adolf Hitler, undermining his grievances with hyperbole. Last month, he led an angry crowd on a late-night march to police headquarters in Tbilisi in an attempt to release three young activists who had been detained for allegedly assaulting journalists and were then allegedly assaulted in custody themselves.

The march ended in violence after the pop star scaled the gates to confront cops who were chanting “Misha! Misha!” - Saakashvili’s nickname - as they swung their batons. Critics condemned his behaviour as reckless, but for his followers, it was just another reason to sanctify him.

Georgia Wins Fashion Battle - Update

2009-05-30T07:24:00.004+04:00

"Advertisements for Benetton clothing have often promoted international harmony and goodwill, but the fashion company's controversial plan to launch a fashion shop in a war-ravaged corner of the former Soviet Union has drawn it into a bitter political dispute..." There's more about this unusual row in my report for the Wall Street Journal here.

Georgia Wins Fashion Battle

2009-05-29T15:44:00.001+04:00

Benetton clothing shops in Georgia have been closed for several days in protest against Benetton Turkey’s announcement that it was planning to open a store in Sukhumi, the capital of the disputed region of Abkhazia. "Protest Against Opening of Benetton Shop in Sukhumi" read signs hung in the shops’ windows in Tbilisi this week.

The Black Sea region of Abkhazia broke away from Georgian government control after a civil war in the early 1990s; Russia recently recognised it as an independent state, but Georgians still consider it part of their sovereign territory. Any international investment there without permission is seen by Georgia as a crime; hence the anger at the proposal from the Turkish associate of the Italian fashion firm.

Now it seems the Georgians have carried the day, in fashion terms at least, with reports that Benetton Turkey won’t open the store in Abkhazia after all, leaving the rebellious Abkhazians without a source of chic knitwear products. A statement said the company had reversed its decision to "decrease tension that would have nothing to do with a commercial firm".

It’s a small consolation for Georgia, however, which lost the only little piece of Abkhazia it controlled – a remote mountain gorge – during the war with Russia last year. Tens of thousands of Georgians who fled the original conflict still live in dilapidated temporary accommodation, 15 years afterwards, many of them still dreaming of going back to their homes, but now having to face the depressing likelihood that it may never be possible.

'Black Hole' in South Ossetia?

2009-05-19T13:21:00.007+04:00

After the war with Georgia last year, Russia recognised the tiny, impoverished rural region of South Ossetia as an independent state. Moscow has now deployed border guards to police the frontlines and is in the process of establishing military bases there to defend against what it describes as potential Georgian "aggression" in the future. Russia also promised large amounts of aid to help rebuild and revitalise the area. But according to the Associated Press, some former South Ossetian officials are deeply unhappy about the post-war situation, alleging that "tyranny and official corruption" have flourished. "What has happened practically a year after the war? Nothing. Not one apartment has been rebuilt, not one business has recuperated," claimed a former security council chief who is now in opposition. Citing the same former-officials-turned-dissidents, analyst Paul Goble also suggested in a recent column that South Ossetia is now a kind of black hole; an area "free from law". The allegation of institutional corruption has been strongly rejected by the South Ossetian authorities, who insist that only around a fifth of Russia's promised reconstruction aid has actually arrived and therefore, in the words of the information minister, "there is literally nothing to steal". Either version of the 'truth', however, appears to represent bad news for people living in the conflict zone as they try to recover from the wartime devastation - not to mention the many thousands of people who were driven out of South Ossetia by the fighting and have little prospect of ever going home.

(The photograph which accompanies this entry shows the sign for Stalin Street in the centre of the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali. I took the photo in 2006, and the Georgian version of the street name is clearly visible between the Ossetian and Russian-language versions - although that, of course, may now have changed.)

Pop Goes the Frontline

2009-05-18T08:52:00.005+04:00

More notes on the musical showdown between Georgia and Russia, from my regular column in The Moscow Times:

Pop music became the latest political battleground between Georgia and Russia over the weekend, as the government in Tbilisi tried to take some of the glitterball shine off the Eurovision song contest in Moscow by financing a rival rock festival which celebrated “freedom” and “European culture”. The implication being, presumably, that Tbilisi’s enemies in the Kremlin cherish neither of them.

Georgia had withdrawn its entry to this year’s Eurovision after the lyrics to the song, We Don’t Wanna Put In – an impudent snipe at the Russian prime minister set to a kitschy disco beat – were judged to be unacceptably political by the organisers. If the song was intended to cause controversy, have some fun at Moscow’s expense and put Georgia back in the international headlines, it worked. Vladimir Putin’s spokesman described it as an act of musical “hooliganism”, although Georgian officials insisted that Eurovision’s ruling was politically-motivated censorship. They responded by backing a lavish three-day festival called Tbilisi Open Air - Alter/Vision, one of the biggest musical events ever held in this country.

This isn’t the first time that pop has been used for political purposes here in Georgia. During the ‘Rose Revolution’ in 2003 which swept President Mikheil Saakashvili to power, the country’s best-known rockers fuelled insurrectionary fervour by playing live to protesters outside parliament as they struggled to oust Georgia’s former leader, Eduard Shevardnadze. In recent weeks, demonstrations against Saakashvili have been partly inspired by a controversial pop star who has ‘imprisoned’ himself in an imitation jail cell to create an unusual anti-government reality-television show. Opposition activists have followed his lead by blocking streets outside parliament and other state buildings with hundreds of similar ‘cells’.

Georgia may have received a propaganda boost from this year’s Eurovision, but in 2008, it wasn’t so fortunate. Last year’s entry was sung by Diana Gurtskaya, a blind refugee from Abkhazia, the Moscow-backed rebel region which split from Georgian government control during a vicious civil war in the early 1990s. “My land is still crying, torn in half,” she wailed. “Something’s gotta change, something’s gotta change!” But the title of her song, Peace Will Come, could hardly have been a more inaccurate prediction: just three months after the Eurovision finals, Georgia was at war again, and the “cold bitter tears” of Gurtskaya’s lyrics continued to flow.

Everyday Chaos in Tbilisi

2009-05-11T11:16:00.002+04:00

Last week was another remarkable few days of chaos, intrigue and unresolved mystery in Georgia. An alleged uprising at a military base the day before prestigious NATO exercises were due to begin; arrests of alleged coup plotters; late-night clashes between protesters and policemen at police headquarters; the continued opposition blockade of several main streets in the centre of the capital... as Paul Rimple notes on his Tbilisi Blues blog, what’s abnormal in most countries is everyday reality here.

Saturday marked a month since the non-stop protests began, and the opposition held one of its biggest rallies for weeks - intended to send out a message that although they are now negotiating with the authorities, they aren’t about to back down. “No one believed we would still be here after a month,” declared one opposition leader, who went on to insist that the government had “stopped functioning” and that President Mikheil Saakashvili was “on his way out”. But although government sessions are currently being held in Tbilisi hotels and provincial overnment offices because parliament is permanently under blockade, there is absolutely no sign that Saakashvili will step down, as the opposition is demanding.

At the rally, some opposition leaders and activists wore bandages and plasters, indicating that they were wounded during the clashes with police last week. The most dramatic moment came when one opposition leader with his head swathed in bandages was theatrically helped to the microphone by one of his comrades. He was welcomed as a hero - but even though the protest had a real sense of energy and enthusiasm for a change, a mere 20,000 people on the streets will not exactly shake the foundations of the Saakashvili regime. In other words, the political stand-off here is not over yet.

Deadlock in 'Cell City'

2009-05-04T07:46:00.006+04:00

More notes on the continuing opposition protests here in Georgia, from my column in The Moscow Times:

The struggle for power in Georgia is now in its fourth week, with parts of the capital, Tbilisi, under constant blockade. The opposition has established what it calls a ‘city of cells’ – hundreds of imitation prison cells, built from steel bars, rope and polythene sheeting – to seal off roads outside parliament, the presidential residence, and the state television channel. Opposition leaders say the cells, which symbolise the alleged authoritarianism of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s regime, will stay until the Georgian leader steps down. Saakashvili isn’t about to do that, so activists are settling in for war of attrition.

One strange thing about the ‘city of cells’, however, is how few people actually live in it. Daily rallies are poorly-attended, usually attracting a couple of thousand protesters, but far fewer are dedicated enough to brave the elements day and night for their cause. Their encampment also doesn’t have the flamboyant creativity of the tent city in Kiev during Ukraine’s ‘Orange Revolution’ in 2004, or the courageous urgency of the youth activist camp which held out briefly but defiantly for a few days after disputed elections in repressive Belarus in 2006. For most of the time, the serene atmosphere on the near-deserted streets of central Tbilisi is more like a public holiday than a political uprising.

But the cell-dwellers genuinely believe that they’re engaged in a battle of good against evil. A middle-aged man called Lado, who travelled from the Black Sea region of Adjara to join the protests, said he was once a Saakashvili supporter during the optimistic early days of his presidency.

“I was enthusiastic about Misha – he was clever, good-looking, the youngest president in Europe,” he recalled. “I hoped the world would love him.” After a series of flawed elections and last year’s disastrous war with Russia, that hope is long gone, Lado said ruefully: “I’m not motivated by personal hatred,” he insisted. “Misha just didn’t do the right thing.”

Another middle-aged man, Gela, said this was an all-or-nothing struggle for the nation’s future. “If this protest ends in failure, we are lost,” he argued. “There is no other choice left. We have no way back.”

This kind of rhetoric illustrates why compromise has been so hard to find. Opposition leaders simply don’t trust Saakashvili, and say they’ll settle for nothing less than his resignation. The administration, which has allowed the protests to continue to prove that Georgia is democratic, can’t now remove the cells without appearing oppressive. With the situation in stalemate, each side awaits the other’s next move.