Georgia’s top court hears lawsuit to ban main opposition parties in latest crackdown on dissent

BATUMI: The Constitutional Court in the South Caucasus nation of Georgia began hearings Wednesday on a lawsuit by the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five major opposition parties, a move critics say would effectively eliminate political competition. The lawsuit is the latest step in the unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has engulfed Georgia in recent years in response to mass prote