The protestors also want the former independent television station – Imedi TV – to be returned to its rightful owners, the family of Badri Patarkatsishvili who died in London in February this year.

A former news programme director and the leader of one of the opposition parties Georgy Targamadze said:

“We are here to support the last independent TV station in Georgia – Imedi TV. We think that this day is the best symbol for Georgia’s new history. We should be more democratic and listen to our people”.

November 2007 protests: one year on

The mass protests started in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi on November 2, 2007, with the opposition demanding Mikhail Saakashvili’s resignation, and an immediate parliamentary election.

On the fifth day of demonstrations, when about 60,000 people were rallying in the capital, the police started dispersing the crowd using sound guns, tear gas and water cannons against protesters. Hundreds of protesters were injured in the clashes.

It happened live on air. To watch the footage, please follow the link.

RT correspondent Ekaterina Azarova and cameraman Evgeny Litovko were among those caught up in the police crackdown during a live broadcast. They suffered tear-gas poisoning.

On November 8 the Georgian government declared a nationwide 15 day state of emergency and silenced opposition news channels.

A year on, many complain that things are no better, and the former head of Imedi-TV’s news programmes, Giorgi Targamadze, believes last year’s events on November 7 have become a symbol of Georgia’s modern history.

“We tried to have a direct dialogue with the authorities but there is no response,” says Kakha Kukava, the opposition Conservative Party leader.

Several thousand people have gathered in front of the Georgian parliament building.

The United Opposition press centre said the protest rally will finish in the evening, but after that opposition leaders are going to the countryside to meet the local population.

The leaders also plan to hold a session of all Georgian opposition forces in December and establish a joint political organisation.

“If the authorities do not meet our demand to hold snap parliamentary and presidential elections next spring, opposition leaders and supporters will start an indefinite protest rally on April 9, 2009,” the opposition press centre said.

Zaza Vashakidze plans to be one of the first to demonstrate on the streets of Tbilisi – he says he has nothing better to do as he’s unemployed.

He used to work as an economist in a company that did business in Russia. But after this summer’s war in South Ossetia, he believes that for as long as Mikhail Saakashvili remains President, his future looks bleak.

“We need real free elections which will help us to solve the problems we have faced, and try to overcome the damage the current government caused to our country, our nation and the whole Caucasus,” Vashakidze says. “They have created a ‘for show’ state, a ‘for show’ democracy, but it does not work!”

But it’s very difficult in Georgia today to hear the voice of the opposition. All media outlets support the government.

And opposition parties themselves have come under fire for being disjointed and disorganised.

“We can’t say that the Georgian opposition is strong, as it is alienated,” says independent analyst Mamuka Areshidze. “Those opposition leaders who entered parliament can’t even be called an opposition, as they are controlled by the government. All the others are alienated and they don’t have charismatic leaders who Georgian people trust and who could make people follow them.”

It seems Saakashvili will be facing more discontent on the streets of his capital, but the opposition will have to get itself into shape if it ever wants to replace him.

Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, a former foreign minister of Nicaragua, pledged in his opening address to the session to dedicate his year as president to representing the interests of “the dispossessed of the world” and fostering solidarity between peoples and member states.

“Georgia was the one who invaded Ossetia. Look at the situation, look at how the whole thing began. I think that Georgia did commit agression against South Ossetia,” said Brockmann.

Apart from Russia, Brockmann’s native Nicaragua is the only country to so far formally recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Brockmann’s election to the rotating presidency, as well as Nicaragua’s recognition of the new republics has lately catapulted the South American country to the world stage.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said Tbilisi has been asking international organisations not to offer humanitarian aid to South Ossetia if it doesn’t become part of Georgia again.

“We mourn for the innocent deaths of everyone, regardless of their ethnic origin – peaceful Ossetians, Georgians and other people of that multi-national land,” Churkin said.

Churkin called for the United States to issue visas to officials from South Ossetia and Abkhazia so they can attend a Security Council meeting in early October.

The mandate of the UN observer mission in the Caucasus expires next month, and Russia has insisted its extension is impossible without hearing from all parties in the conflict.

Lavrov discussed candidates for Russian and Abkhaz ambassadors in the two countries with president Sergei Bagapsh, as well as the prospective location of the Russian embassy in Sukhum. The new ambassadors are to be named in the near future.

Lavrov pledged Russia’s commitment to developing Abkhazia, and securing recognition of its independence by other countries. Besides Russia, Nicaragua is the only country to fully recognise the republic’s independence. Belarus and Venezuela have indicated they may recognise it in the near future.

“Russia guarantees there will be no more war in Abkhazia. That will be done with the help of the treaty of amity, cooperation and mutual assistance, which will be signed at the summit level in the near future,” Lavrov stated at a joint press-conference with Sergei Bagapsh.

“We shall sign specific agreements regarding various sectors as is fitting for two countries that are allies. They will cover areas of defence and security, customs and borders, free trade and tax policies, currency and banking system. This is in direct line with the assistance the Russian Federation is giving Abkhazia to become a fully independent state,” he added.

The plane carrying Lavrov and a group of journalists was the first civil aircraft to land in the Abkhazian capital for more than a decade. Lavrov said that he can personally attest that the airport is in perfect condition and ready to receive international passengers.

There’s no reference to sanctions, but the draft statement says that relations between the EU and Russia are at a crossroads.

Medvedev told the State Council meeting that his government had acted responsibly.

“There isn’t a single country in the world that would tolerate its citizens and peacekeepers being killed. Russia was obliged to save these people”.

At the Moscow meeting, the government’s position was backed by regional leaders.

The Republic of Tatarstan’s President, Mentimir Shaimiyev, said recent events showed that ethnic conflicts cannot be solved by force.

“It has already led to the collapse of Yugoslavia, now Georgia. These issues cannot be neglected and put on hold”, Shaimiyev said.

The regions are also offering help to South Ossetia so it can recover. Some are drawing up agreements on cooperation with what they call the world’s youngest country.

At the beginning of Saturday’s meeting Medvedev made his position clear. He said ‘war’ was the only way to describe the crisis in South Ossetia.

The president went on to say that Moscow was prepared for criticism from some quarters in the West after it recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

“There are those who are trying to exert political pressure on Russia. This is unacceptable. This pressure will bring no result. I want to make it clear that confrontation is not our choice. We are prepared for co-operative relations based on international law,” Medvedev said.

The newly-independent republics in the Caucasus are now hopeful they will get their long-awaited chance to present their cases internationally. Abkhazian President Sergey Bagapsh said his nation was no different to any other, saying Abkhazians wanted ‘to build relations with rest of the world’.

“All these years that we’re begging the EU, the Council of Europe, all possible committees, the UN Security Council to simply give us a word, to listen to us, just to let us have a chance to explain who these Abkhaz and Ossetian people are. To explain we’re not a bunch of weird people with beards and rifles. We’re civilised people. We want to live in a civilized country and to build relations with the rest of the world,” Bagapsh said.

Commenting on NATO’s massive support for Georgia – mainly by sending warships full of humanitarian aid to the Black Sea, Medvedev said it would be interesting to see what NATO’s reaction would be if Russia sent its warships to the Caribbean to help the nations hit by the recent hurricane.

“We didn’t get a word of support from those who, in similar circumstances, were speaking lots about freedom of choice, national dignity and use of force to punish aggressors. Unfortunately these countries continue to arm the Georgian regime under the flag of humanitarian aid,” he said.

Moscow says it is ready to step up security measures to defend the country’s interests,

In a report to be published in its Monday edition, OSCE military observers in the Caucasus described detailed planning by Georgia to move into South Ossetia which contributed to the crisis, the German magazine said.

The report also backed up Russian claims that the Georgian offensive was already in full swing by the time Russian troops and armored vehicles entered the Roksky Tunnel, on the border with Russia and South Ossetia, to protect its peacekeepers and the civilian population.

The OSCE report also contains suspected war crimes committed by Georgians, who ordered attacks on sleeping South Ossetian civilians.

Georgia attacked South Ossetia on August 8 in an attempt to regain control over the separatist republic, which split from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.

Most people living in South Ossetia have Russian citizenship and Moscow subsequently launched an operation to “force Georgia to accept peace.” The operation was concluded on August 12.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed decrees Tuesday recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states and called on other countries to follow suit.

Russia has accused Georgia of committing “genocide” by launching the offensive in South Ossetia. Russia is calling for an international war crimes trial for the Georgian leadership, which Moscow says is responsible for massive loss of life in South Ossetia

That the war had begun 16 hours earlier by Georgian president Sukashvili’s order these media preferred to pass over in silence.

But you have the right to know truth. That’s how this really happened:

According to old tradition of Olympic Games’ eve everyone was looking for peace and quiet. On August 7, Georgian and South Ossetian officials agreed to observe a ceasefire and hold debates in attempt to solve their long-term conflict peacefully.

August 8, 00:06
Just hours later, six minutes past midnight on August 8, inhabitants of Ossetian capital Tskhinvali, peacefully sleeping in their beds, heard dreadful whizz of incoming rockets. The hell followed soon… Without any declaration Georgian forces launched massive shelling of Tskhinvali with all available means, including heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems GRAD. In this massacre, in just several hours, the whole city was ruined: 2,000 human lives wasted and 85% of all buildings demolished. Georgian military expedition, called “Clean field”, yielded its first fruits…

August 8, 03:00
Georgian army occupied five Ossetian villages, burning them to ashes.

August 8, 03:30
Georgian tanks started attack on Tskhinvali. Ossetian militia stood up to the enemy but could not keep back 30-times outnumbering Georgian forces. Many basements where Ossetins tried to escape shelling were showered with grenades. At the very same time, Georgian “peacekeepers”, serving in South Ossetia, launched unexampled attack on their yesterday’s colleagues, Russian peacekeepers, managing to kill at least 10 of them.

August 8, 04:33
Russia called for UN Security Council meeting to put a stop to Georgian military aggression and seize fire. No decision was delivered at neither this nor several following meetings.

August 8, 09:00
Russian Prime Minister Putin informed President Bush that Georgia launched war against Ossetia. Mr. Bush answered that “nobody wanted this war”.

Ossetia was praying for help. It was already obvious that “clean field” meant nothing else but ethnical cleansing. In these circumstances, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russia would defend Russian citizens who constitute 90% of South Ossetia population.

August 8, 16:00
Russian forces overstepped mountain pass and made their way toward perishing Ossetins. That was exactly the moment when CNN and BBC finally “noticed” the war and broadcasted their «Russians invaded Georgia» scenes. Sukashvili announced that Russia invaded Georgia and held back that he started this horrible bloodshed himself.

Before midnight, Russian and Ossetian forces kicked aggressors out of Ossetian capital. Survived citizens started to leave basements to escape the city. In the next couple days around 30,000 refugees fled to Russia.

Failed Georgian assault turned to informational blackout and devilish propaganda. It’s time when so much depends on your personal position! We believe that there will be journalists who can give objective picture of these events. We believe in people of peace who will regard an attempt of massive extermination of small nation as genocide (3% of South Ossetins and 0.3% of all Ossetins worldwide were killed in just one night on August 8; fascists have never achieved that efficiency in exterminating Jewish people even when Auschwitz and Treblinka were working at full capacity). We believe in a world community that will view Sukashvili’s inhuman orders as war crime and an outrage on humanity. We believe in you, thinking person, able to confront with facts, person who will not follow barefaced propaganda of politicized and deeply corrupt media, person able to recognize truth!

A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said: “We consider this is a regrettable decision and I recall our attachment to the territorial integrity of Georgia.” French President Nicolas Sarkozy helped broker the ceasefire in South Ossetia which ended the fighting. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner later confirmed France’s position in a parliamentary committee meeting: “We decisively condemn this decision.”

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the Russian decision to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia was “absolutely unacceptable”. Speaking in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, Merkel said the recognition of the breakaway republics’ independence “contradicts principles of territorial integrity as a fundamental right.”

Earlier in the day she was joined at a press conference by Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, who pledged: “Europe will not leave Georgia on its own.”

In the United States, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a Russian motion to recognise the independence of the two republics would be “dead on arrival” in the UN Security Council. She added that it puts Russia “in opposition to a number of Security Council resolutions to which it is party”.

The United Kingdom also condemned Russia’s actions. “We reject this categorically and reaffirm Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” a UK Foreign Office spokesperson said.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has called for the formation of a strong coalition to counteract the Russian decision. “I am holding talks today with international partners and will be visiting Ukraine tomorrow to ensure the widest possible coalition against Russian aggression in Georgia,” he said.

A spokesperson for the office of EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, said on Tuesday: “The European Union confirms its support for Georgia and its territorial integrity.”

NATO General Secretary, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, also said: “NATO fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and calls on Russia to respect these principles.” He claims Russia is violating UN resolutions concerning Georgia’s territorial integrity. But what for NATO is a breach of contract, for Russia is double standards.

When Kosovo declared independence in February, 46 UN countries formally backed the bid – France, the UK and U.S. among them. Moscow now says it’s not to be lectured by those who opened what it sees as Pandora’s Box.

Russia’s Envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin said: “How is it possible to recognise Kosovo, to rip a piece out of Serbia, a country that’s been sovereign for much longer than Georgia, and now talk about protecting Georgia’s territorial integrity? Choose what it is that you’re defending.”

And it’s a view echoed by analysts. According to Marc Almond from Oriel College, Oxford, “the fact that the West has pushed through Kosovo situation means that the West is in a very weak position to say that the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia somehow transgresses the international law”.

“I’m afraid international law was ripped up in February on this sort of issue,” he said.