Giga Bokeria

Giorgi ( Giga ) Bokeria (Georgian გიორგი ( გიგა ) ბოკერია; born April 20, 1972 in Tbilisi ) is a Georgian politician (United National Movement ). From 2005 to 2008 he was Vice- President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ( PACE). Since 8 April 2008, he has been Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. He was one of the organizers of the Rose Revolution in Georgia in November 2003.

Life

Bokeria studied History and Education at the Tbilisi State University. From 1989 to 1995 he was a leader of the student movement and an active member of the Press Club of the University. From 1992 he also worked as a journalist: first for the daily 7 Dge (Eng. 7 days ), then for Mimomchiweli (Eng. The Observer ). In 1993 he moved to the state radio, where he researched for the mission pikis Saati ( dt rush hour ). In 1994 he went to Radio Liberty, 1995, he was political editor of the newspaper Argumenti ( dt argument ), 1996 he hosted for the private television station Rustavi 2, the talk show Akcentebi (German accents).

In the same year he was next to Levan Ramishvili, Givi Targamadze and Dawit Zurabishvili co-founder of the Freedom Institute in Tbilisi, which initially lobbied against a ban on Rustavi 2. Later it was working against corruption and supported the Government in the preparation of legal reforms in Georgia. Bokeria coordinated where the human rights programs, later he was a senior legal advisor. After a violent attack on the Institute in July 2002, he became an implacable opponent of the government of Eduard Shevardnadze.

In February 2003, he traveled to Belgrade to study the replacement of Slobodan Milošević by the Serbian opposition movement. He then supported the development of the Georgian student movement Kmara! (Eng. Enough! ) that could use it as a base of operations during the Rose Revolution spaces of freedom Institute. With the director Giorgi Khaindrava, the writer Dawit Turaschwili and his colleagues from the Freedom Institute, David Zurabishvili he made on 10 November 2003 a committee for civil resistance, which campaigned in universities, organizations and the province for action against the government.

2004 Bokeria was on a list position of party National Movement - Democrats Member of the Georgian Parliament, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs and the Committee on Defence and Security. He is close to President Mikheil Saakashvili, procured him parliamentary majorities for controversial and unpopular legislation. In August 2004, he opposed the then Interior Minister Irakli Okruashvili, the arresting a critical journalists from Gori for alleged drug trafficking by the police. According to an analysis by the International Crisis Group (ICG ), he is one of the most influential people in the inner circle of the Georgian president.

From June 2004 to April 2008, he was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ( PACE), since 2005 PACE Vice- President and Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ( ALDE). On 8 April 2008, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.

He is married and has one child.

Writings

• Georgian Media in the 90s: A step to liberty. Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Tbilisi 1997 ( with Givi Targamadze, Levan Ramishvili )