Latest news with #politicalcrackdown
LBCI
27-06-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Hong Kong opposition party says to disband
Hong Kong's League of Social Democrats, one of the city's last remaining opposition parties after a five-year political crackdown by Beijing, said on Friday that it will disband. "Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the League of Social Democrats. However, we will not survive to see that day and will announce our disbandment," the LSD said in a message to reporters, adding that more details will be announced Sunday. AFP
Arab News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Georgia tightens screws on opposition, jails more leaders
TBILISI: Georgia jailed two prominent opposition figures on Friday, the latest in a string of sentences that critics condemn as a crackdown on dissent that puts nearly all opposition leaders behind bars. Georgia has faced political unrest since the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in October's parliamentary elections. The opposition rejected the results, triggering mass protests that escalated after the government suspended negotiations on joining the European Union. Protesters accuse the ruling party of drifting toward authoritarianism and aligning the country with Moscow — allegations the government denies. Opposition figures and rights activists are being targeted in a wave of arrests and prosecutions. On Friday, a Tbilisi court ordered Nika Melia — the co-leader of the key opposition Akhali party — to be jailed for eight months. Another prominent opposition politician, Givi Targamadze, was sentenced to seven months in prison. The two were also barred from holding public office for two years. They were convicted of failing to cooperate with a divisive parliamentary enquiry probing alleged abuses under jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili. Saakashvili, a pro-Western reformer, is serving a 12.5-year sentence on charges widely condemned by rights groups as politically motivated. Melia has been in pre-trial detention since late May. Targamadze, a member of Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM), said he believed his sentence was 'a Russian order.' In 2016, he survived a bomb attack when his car exploded in central Tbilisi just days before parliamentary elections. Nearly all of Georgia's opposition leaders have been jailed this month on charges similar to those levelled at Melia and Targamadze. They have dismissed the parliamentary commission as illegitimate and accused Georgian Dream of using it to silence dissent. Ahead of last year's elections, Georgian Dream announced plans to outlaw all major opposition parties.
Malay Mail
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Hong Kong's last major opposition party to disband after brutal crackdown
HONG KONG, June 27 — Hong Kong's League of Social Democrats, one of the city's last remaining opposition parties after a five-year political crackdown by Beijing, said on Friday that it will disband. The party was founded in 2006 and was once considered the radical faction in Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp. It was known for its boisterous street-level campaigning, often spearheaded by the now-jailed activist 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung. 'Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the League of Social Democrats. However, we will not survive to see that day and will announce our disbandment,' the LSD said in a message to reporters, adding that more details will be announced Sunday. It consistently called for greater democracy in Hong Kong and advocated for grassroots causes, criticising social and economic inequalities in a city with one of the world's largest wealth gaps. 'When the system cannot faithfully represent the people's demands and becomes a tool for the ruling classes, we must rely on a movement of the masses outside the system to put pressure on those in power,' LSD wrote on its website. The party held three seats in Hong Kong's legislature at its height. However, its decline began after Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020 in the wake of massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before. China and Hong Kong say the law was needed to curb political unrest, while critics say it has quelled dissent and curbed rights. LSD figurehead Leung was arrested in 2021 and jailed last year as part of a sprawling subversion case involving 47 opposition figures. The party has held small public protests in recent years, often under heavy police surveillance. Four members, including current leader Chan Po-ying, were fined this month for displaying a black cloth and raising money 'without permits' in street campaigns. — AFP
CNA
27-06-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Hong Kong opposition party says it will disband
HONG KONG: Hong Kong's League of Social Democrats, one of the city's last remaining opposition parties after a five-year political crackdown by Beijing, said on Friday (Jun 27) that it will disband. The party was founded in 2006 and was once considered the radical faction in Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp. It was known for its boisterous street-level campaigning, often spearheaded by the now-jailed activist "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung. "Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the League of Social Democrats. However, we will not survive to see that day and will announce our disbandment," the LSD said in a message to reporters, adding that more details will be announced Sunday. It consistently called for greater democracy in Hong Kong and advocated for grassroots causes, criticising social and economic inequalities in a city with one of the world's largest wealth gaps. "When the system cannot faithfully represent the people's demands and becomes a tool for the ruling classes, we must rely on a movement of the masses outside the system to put pressure on those in power," LSD wrote on its website. The party held three seats in Hong Kong's legislature at its height. However, its decline began after Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020 in the wake of massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before. China and Hong Kong say the law was needed to curb political unrest, while critics say it has quelled dissent and curbed rights. LSD figurehead Leung was arrested in 2021 and jailed last year as part of a sprawling subversion case involving 47 opposition figures. The party has held small public protests in recent years, often under heavy police surveillance. Four members, including current leader Chan Po-ying, were fined this month for displaying a black cloth and raising money "without permits" in street campaigns.
Al Arabiya
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Georgia Jails Top Opposition Figures as Authorities Ramp Up Crackdown
Georgia has jailed four key opposition figures within days as part of a monthslong crackdown on dissent that followed a disputed election last October in the South Caucasus country. Nearly all leaders of Georgia's pro-Western opposition are now behind bars as protests continue against the ruling Georgian Dream party and its decision last year to halt Georgia's bid to join the European Union. The demonstrators who gather daily in the capital, Tbilisi, also say that the vote on Oct. 26 that handed Georgian Dream another term in power was not free or fair. On Tuesday, politician Giorgi Vashadze of the Strategy Agmashenebeli party was sentenced to eight months in prison for refusing to testify in an official probe that Georgian Dream's critics call an act of political revenge. The day before, three other opposition figures were handed comparable sentences after refusing to cooperate with the same parliamentary inquiry investigating alleged wrongdoings by the government of ex-President Mikhail Saakashvili. Badri Japaridze and Manuka Khazaradze were both jailed for eight months, while Zurab Japaridze received seven months. Opposition politicians have declined to attend the commission hearings, citing their ongoing boycott of parliament following the Oct. 26 election. Georgian Dream's critics say the vote was rigged with Russia's help to hand it another term in power. They also say the probe is a ploy by the ruling party to damage the opposition, particularly Saakashvili's United National Movement party. Speaking to The Associated Press before he was handcuffed on Tuesday, Vashadze said the commission hearings went against the Georgian constitution because no opposition lawmakers are represented and that the probe's aim is to persecute the opposition. 'They are afraid of us because we are fighting for our country and they see that there is big support from Georgian society… That's why I'm under arrest now,' he said. Other prominent government critics remain in pre-trial detention for declining to appear before the commission investigating Saakashvili. They include Nika Melia, a former chairman of Saakashvili's United National Movement party, and Nika Gvaramia, who was a minister in Saakashvili's government. A former defense minister, Irakli Okruashvili, is also in custody. Melia, Gvaramia, and Zurab Japaridze were among the leaders of the opposition grouping Coalition for Change that finished second in the October vote, according to official results. Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday denied that their arrests were politically motivated. Meanwhile, anti-government protests continue daily in central Tbilisi. While numbers are far lower than last autumn, the demonstrations are big enough to block traffic around the parliament building. Many protesters have worn masks since the government imposed harsh penalties for blocking streets. Elene Khoshtaria, another prominent opposition politician, on Tuesday slammed Georgian Dream for using 'violence, repressions, political persecution' to snuff out dissent and Georgia's European future. She praised protesters for their persistence and called on Western countries to give stronger backing to Georgian Dream's critics. 'We are all in solidarity with all our friends and political prisoners,' she said, referring to those jailed or detained in recent weeks. 'As long as Georgia fights, I think our international partners should act in a very decisive and bold way.'
