The News in Brief
Wednesday, October 30
By Liza Mchedlidze
Project for 'Provision of a Second-Hand Fire Engines for Borjomi Municipality' provided by Japan
The opening ceremony was held in Borjomi municipality in Samtskhe-Javakheti Region of Georgia on October 29, concerning the Project for “Provision of a Second-Hand Fire Engines for Borjomi Municipality”, which has been implemented within the framework of “Grassroots and Human Security Grant Assistance Programme” of the Government of Japan. The Ceremony was attended by H.E. Mr. Tadaharu Uehara, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Georgia, Mercy Corps and Emergency Management Service Leadership and local self-government and municipal agencies and the local population.
The Grant Contract of the above-mentioned project was concluded on March 6/2019, between the Embassy of Japan and Mercy Corps. Under this project, Japan has provided a grant for the procurement of two firefighting engines, dedicated to prevent and respond to forest fires in the Borjomi municipality, allowing to preserve forests, save lives and livelihoods of the local population. The grant amount for this project amounts to USD 86 242.
“Grant Assistance for Grassroots and Human Security Projects” (GGP) provides assistance to relatively small projects implemented by municipalities, medical/educational institutions, as well as NGOs and aims at improving the living standards of Georgian people. Within 20 years of its work in Georgia - from 1998 to 2018, the Grassroots Human Security Program (GGP) of the Government of Japan-funded 170 projects, in total amounting to more than USD 17 million (USD 17 171 529). Through this funding, dozens of schools, kindergartens, hospitals were rehabilitated and re-equipped – providing essential services to the most vulnerable population; agriculture infrastructure was developed, alleviating poverty in some of the poorest villages; thousands of hectares of land were cleared from hazardous landmines, saving lives of the local population.
Tbilisi City Court clarifies why 16 people were not recognized as victims in June 20 case
According to Tbilisi City Court, for a person to be acknowledged as a victim, accusations must be supported with arguments of what occurred at the crime scene and how/who violated a person's rights and how those violated were affected. The court also reveals that June 20 case is still under investigation and this might be a subject of discussion in the future as well.
“On October 25, 2019, the Tbilisi City Court Criminal Investigative, Pre-trial and Substantive Panel without a hearing heard and rejected the complaint of Maya Gomuri and others, who participated in the rally near the Parliament building on June 20-21, as a victim.
The court heard the complaint and the accompanying materials, examined all the facts of the case, assessed the results of the investigative and procedural actions carried out by the investigation, as well as the need for future investigative actions, and considered that the complaint should not be upheld.
The Court notes that the standard of evidence required to identify a victim and the standard of proof required to identify a person as a defendant are equal, but that the identification of the victim does not depend on sufficient evidence to initiate the prosecution of specific persons in the JS case. It is also necessary to establish, on a case-by-case basis, whether the crime was committed and directly what the person suffered as a result of the crime.
The court explains that the case is still under investigation, that investigative and procedural actions are to be taken and that the issue of recognizing the victim as a victim may then be the subject of further discussion.
The court ruling is final and will not be appealed,” said the Tbilisi City Court.
'Proservice' eliminates side effects and identifies the major cause of Cyber Attack
The administration of ‘Proservice,’ which hosts websites of state agencies, the private sector, and media organizations, said the effects of the largest cyberattack were eliminated.
According to them, the main cause of the incident has already been identified. However, as the company explains, other details of the ongoing investigative work will be known later.
“Yesterday, October 28, one of the largest cyberattacks on the cyberspace of Georgia took place. The attack targeted several companies around the country and became one of the recipients of the Proservice-owned server, which controls websites of state agencies, the private sector, and media organizations. As a result of the attack, a large part of the web pages on the servers of 'Proservice' were damaged.
Once the problem was discovered, 'Proservice', along with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and leading experts in the field, continued to work on a complete solution to the problem. At 3 pm on October 29, all the sites on the Proservice website had been restored. The hosting company continues to operate at this stage.
At this stage, the company continues to work with the Department of Cyber Security of the Ministry of Interior, the Data Exchange Agency and leading industry experts. The underlying cause of the incident has already been identified. However, other details of the ongoing investigative work will be known later.
'Proservice' expresses its deepest condolences to the website owners on all its dedicated servers and thanks to everyone for their support and assistance during these difficult times,” said the statement.
Project for 'Provision of a Second-Hand Fire Engines for Borjomi Municipality' provided by Japan
The opening ceremony was held in Borjomi municipality in Samtskhe-Javakheti Region of Georgia on October 29, concerning the Project for “Provision of a Second-Hand Fire Engines for Borjomi Municipality”, which has been implemented within the framework of “Grassroots and Human Security Grant Assistance Programme” of the Government of Japan. The Ceremony was attended by H.E. Mr. Tadaharu Uehara, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Georgia, Mercy Corps and Emergency Management Service Leadership and local self-government and municipal agencies and the local population.
The Grant Contract of the above-mentioned project was concluded on March 6/2019, between the Embassy of Japan and Mercy Corps. Under this project, Japan has provided a grant for the procurement of two firefighting engines, dedicated to prevent and respond to forest fires in the Borjomi municipality, allowing to preserve forests, save lives and livelihoods of the local population. The grant amount for this project amounts to USD 86 242.
“Grant Assistance for Grassroots and Human Security Projects” (GGP) provides assistance to relatively small projects implemented by municipalities, medical/educational institutions, as well as NGOs and aims at improving the living standards of Georgian people. Within 20 years of its work in Georgia - from 1998 to 2018, the Grassroots Human Security Program (GGP) of the Government of Japan-funded 170 projects, in total amounting to more than USD 17 million (USD 17 171 529). Through this funding, dozens of schools, kindergartens, hospitals were rehabilitated and re-equipped – providing essential services to the most vulnerable population; agriculture infrastructure was developed, alleviating poverty in some of the poorest villages; thousands of hectares of land were cleared from hazardous landmines, saving lives of the local population.
Tbilisi City Court clarifies why 16 people were not recognized as victims in June 20 case
According to Tbilisi City Court, for a person to be acknowledged as a victim, accusations must be supported with arguments of what occurred at the crime scene and how/who violated a person's rights and how those violated were affected. The court also reveals that June 20 case is still under investigation and this might be a subject of discussion in the future as well.
“On October 25, 2019, the Tbilisi City Court Criminal Investigative, Pre-trial and Substantive Panel without a hearing heard and rejected the complaint of Maya Gomuri and others, who participated in the rally near the Parliament building on June 20-21, as a victim.
The court heard the complaint and the accompanying materials, examined all the facts of the case, assessed the results of the investigative and procedural actions carried out by the investigation, as well as the need for future investigative actions, and considered that the complaint should not be upheld.
The Court notes that the standard of evidence required to identify a victim and the standard of proof required to identify a person as a defendant are equal, but that the identification of the victim does not depend on sufficient evidence to initiate the prosecution of specific persons in the JS case. It is also necessary to establish, on a case-by-case basis, whether the crime was committed and directly what the person suffered as a result of the crime.
The court explains that the case is still under investigation, that investigative and procedural actions are to be taken and that the issue of recognizing the victim as a victim may then be the subject of further discussion.
The court ruling is final and will not be appealed,” said the Tbilisi City Court.
'Proservice' eliminates side effects and identifies the major cause of Cyber Attack
The administration of ‘Proservice,’ which hosts websites of state agencies, the private sector, and media organizations, said the effects of the largest cyberattack were eliminated.
According to them, the main cause of the incident has already been identified. However, as the company explains, other details of the ongoing investigative work will be known later.
“Yesterday, October 28, one of the largest cyberattacks on the cyberspace of Georgia took place. The attack targeted several companies around the country and became one of the recipients of the Proservice-owned server, which controls websites of state agencies, the private sector, and media organizations. As a result of the attack, a large part of the web pages on the servers of 'Proservice' were damaged.
Once the problem was discovered, 'Proservice', along with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and leading experts in the field, continued to work on a complete solution to the problem. At 3 pm on October 29, all the sites on the Proservice website had been restored. The hosting company continues to operate at this stage.
At this stage, the company continues to work with the Department of Cyber Security of the Ministry of Interior, the Data Exchange Agency and leading industry experts. The underlying cause of the incident has already been identified. However, other details of the ongoing investigative work will be known later.
'Proservice' expresses its deepest condolences to the website owners on all its dedicated servers and thanks to everyone for their support and assistance during these difficult times,” said the statement.