The Georgian Parliament, which is effectively completely controlled by the ruling party, has quickly passed a law introducing significant restrictions on media photography and videography in courts. The initiative was supported by 80 deputies.

15 people have been arrested in Armenia on charges of “preparing a terrorist act and seizing power,” the country’s Investigative Committee reports. Among them is the leader of the “Sacred Struggle” protest movement, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan – he has been remanded in custody for two months.

The leader of the Georgian opposition Coalition for Change Zurab Girchi Japaridze, who was sentenced to 7 months in prison on June 23, is distributing a letter from prison in which he suggests creating an online platform to count the number of opponents of the ruling party. The text talks about the importance of opposition unity and the need for protest.

Today, after searches, the National Security Service of Armenia reported the detention of more than a dozen opposition members, including the leader of the "Sacred Struggle", Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan - the main opponent of the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Over the past two days, the Tbilisi City Court has sentenced four opposition figures, which has led to a storm of criticism from the West. Among others, condemnation was expressed by the Minister of State and the Member of Parliament of the UK, the Speaker of the European Commission and the Vice-President of PACE. The US State Department, in turn, expressed deep concern about the events in Georgia. In Washington, they stated that the country's government is using new amendments to the law against its opponents, thereby restricting freedom of expression.

Against the backdrop of a series of arrests of Georgian opposition figures, the UK Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories Stephen Doughty has called on official Tbilisi to release "all political prisoners".

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has addressed followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) on social media calling on them to demand the resignation of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. It is noteworthy that in his post he called the clergyman by his secular name - Ktrich Nersesyan. The appeal also touched upon the clergy, who, according to Pashinyan, remain "faithful to the values ​​of the church."

The leader of Strategy Agmashenebeli, Giorgi Vashadze, whose case for failing to appear before the parliamentary investigative commission will be considered by the court today, said that he will not attend the hearing. He will await the verdict at the party office, where they will come to arrest him. In all likelihood, the oppositionist will be sentenced to several months in prison, as well as three other politicians who have already received sentences under the same article. The maximum penalty for “failure to comply with the legal requirements of the temporary investigative commission of parliament” (Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia) is imprisonment for up to one year.

Tbilisi City Court has issued sentences to two opposition leaders – Zurab Girchi Japaridze (Coalition for Change, Girchi – More Freedom party) and Mamuka Khazaradze (Strong Georgia coalition, Lelo party). They were sentenced to seven and eight months in prison, respectively, for refusing to testify to the parliamentary investigative commission investigating the alleged crimes of the previous authorities.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has put Apti Alaudinov, deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry and commander of the Akhmat special forces, on wanted list. He is charged with "encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine."