2008 Geelong Football Club season
The 2008 Geelong Football Club season was the club's 109th season in the Australian Football League (AFL). Geelong finished the regular season in first position on the ladder, earning the club a second-consecutive McClelland Trophy, and its ninth overall. Geelong's regular season record was impressive (21 wins, 1 loss), the best performance of a team in the home-and-away season since Essendon Football Club in 2000. Geelong then went on to win its Qualifying and Preliminary finals in succession, earning a place in the 2008 AFL Grand Final against Hawthorn, and the chance for a second-consecutive premiership. However, Geelong failed to capitalise on its outstanding performance during the season, losing the premiership in a Grand Final thriller.


2008 Geelong Football Club season
Geelong signed up a club record 36,850 club members for the season, and had an average home crowd attendance of 43,176, also a club record.


2008 Geelong Football Club season, Season overview
Geelong did well in the home and away season and finished four games and percentage clear on top of the ladder. It was an outstanding season with the team winning 21 out of the 22 games & finished with a percentage of 161.84, the only loss was to Collingwood in round 9 by a massive 86 points. With the team widely considered to be premiership favorites the Cats were almost unbackable favourites to win the 2008 AFL premiership. They beat St Kilda in the first qualifying final 17.17(119) to 8.13(61). A 29-point win over the Western Bulldogs in the preliminary final secured the Cats a grand final a berth against Hawthorn.


2008 Geelong Football Club season, Season overview
Geelong were defeated in the 2008 AFL Grand Final by Hawthorn in front of an attendance of 100,012 people. Despite having numerous chances in the first half of the game, and dominating through the midfield, the Cats failed to convert and were defeated by the Hawks.


2008 Generali Ladies Linz
The 2008 Generali Ladies Linz was a women's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 22nd edition of the Generali Ladies Linz, and was part of the Tier II Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place at the TipsArena Linz in Linz, Austria, from October 20 through October 26, 2008. Ana Ivanovic won the singles title.


2008 Generali Ladies Linz, Champions, Doubles
Katarina Srebotnik /  Ai Sugiyama defeated  Cara Black /  Liezel Huber 6–4, 7–5


2008 Generali Ladies Linz – Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber were the defending champions, but Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama defeated them  6–4, 7–5, in the final.


2008 Generali Ladies Linz – Singles
Daniela Hantuchová was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 Generali Ladies Linz – Singles
Ana Ivanovic won the title, defeating Vera Zvonareva in the final 6–2, 6–1.


2008 Generali Ladies Linz – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2008 Gent–Wevelgem
The 2008 Gent–Wevelgem was a road cycling race that took place in Belgium on April 9, 2008. Spaniard Óscar Freire won in a tightly contested bunch sprint and beat Swiss racer Aurélien Clerc who finished a close second.


2008 Georgetown Hoyas football team
The 2008 Georgetown Hoyas football team was an American football team that represented Georgetown University during the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Georgetown finished last in the Patriot League.


2008 Georgetown Hoyas football team
In their third year under head coach Kevin Kelly, the Hoyas compiled a 2–8 record. Daniel Matheny and Nicholas Umar were the team captains.


2008 Georgetown Hoyas football team
The Hoyas were outscored 280 to 96. Their winless (0–5) conference record was the worst in the seven-team Patriot League standings. The Hoyas played only five Patriot League games because their October 4 matchup with Colgate was canceled following a norovirus outbreak at Georgetown.


2008 Georgetown Hoyas football team
Georgetown played its home games at Multi-Sport Field on the university campus in Washington, D.C.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs baseball team
The 2008 Georgia Bulldogs baseball team represented the University of Georgia in the 2008 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Foley Field. The team was coached by David Perno in his 7th season at Georgia.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs baseball team
The Bulldogs lost the College World Series, defeated by the Fresno State Bulldogs in the championship series.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs baseball team, Bulldogs in the 2008 MLB Draft
The following members of the Georgia Bulldogs baseball program were drafted in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team
The 2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team competed in American football on behalf of the University of Georgia in 2008. The Bulldogs competed in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). This was the Georgia Bulldogs' eighth season under the guidance of head coach Mark Richt. During the pre-game ceremonies on August 30, Uga VII was introduced at Sanford Stadium, replacing Uga VI, who died in June.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team
Georgia was ranked #1 in both the preseason coaches poll and AP poll, marking the first time Georgia has ever been #1 in the preseason version of either poll. However, they finished the season ranked below the top 10 in the AP poll.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team
Georgia entered the 2008 season with the longest active winning streak among the 66 BCS conference teams having won their last 7 games of the 2007 season. Among the 120 NCAA FBS teams, only BYU had a longer active winning streak (10 games). Georgia's winning streak ended at 11 games with its loss to Alabama in the 5th game of the 2008 season.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Georgia Southern
Georgia won its season opener over Georgia Southern, 45–21. Georgia led 38–0 in the 3rd quarter before replacing many of its starting players. Knowshon Moreno scored 3 touchdowns on eight rushing attempts. Georgia lost its #1 ranking after the game and would never regain it, losing it after this game in part to USC's 52–7 win over Virginia and the perception that Georgia's defense was questionable for allowing three touchdowns to a lesser opponent.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Georgia Southern
A. J. Green recorded his first career touchdown on a 3-yard pass from back-up quarterback, Joe Cox.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Central Michigan
Georgia coasted to a second straight victory to start the season, beating Central Michigan, 56–17. Knowshon Moreno had 3 touchdowns and 168 yards on 18 carries. Moreno had a 52-yard touchdown run and added a highlight reel leap over Central Michigan defender Vince Agnew on a 29-yard run. Matthew Stafford added two touchdown passes, including a 54-yard bomb to Mohammed Massaquoi. Demarcus Dobbs picked off a Central Michigan pass late in the second quarter and ran 79 yards for a defensive touchdown.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
Georgia beat the South Carolina Gamecocks in a low-scoring game that was closer than many expected, finally prevailing 14–7. The young offensive line struggled with the South Carolina defense. Matthew Stafford completed 15 of 25 passes for 146 yards, but his biggest play came on a 30-yard 3rd quarter run to the South Carolina 4, setting up a Knowshon Moreno touchdown run on the next play. Moreno had 79 yards on 20 carries. A. J. Green led the Georgia receivers with 3 catches for 61 yards.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Arizona State
Georgia scored three 2nd-quarter touchdowns to take a 21–3 lead at halftime against Arizona State. The 2nd half was rather uneventful, and Georgia rolled to an easy 27–10 win. Stafford had the most passing yards of his career (285), and A. J. Green had a breakout game with 159 yards on 8 catches. Moreno also added 2 touchdowns and 149 yards rushing on 23 carries. A. J. Green was named SEC Freshman of the Week for his performance.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Alabama
ESPN's College Gameday broadcast their show live from Athens before the Alabama game. The visit was the show's first broadcast from Athens since the Tennessee game in 1998. A. J. Green led all Georgia receivers with 6 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. This game was notable in that it was only the third ever "blackout" game where the team donned black jerseys and the majority of the fans wore black.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Alabama
However, unlike earlier two contests which were both big Georgia wins, the Crimson Tide dominated early in the game and built an insurmountable 31-0 halftime lead from which Georgia was unable to recover. After the disappointment of this game, the bulldogs would never have another blackout game until 2016 where they faced against Louisiana-Lafayette.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Tennessee
Georgia ended a 2-game losing streak to Tennessee with a 26–14 win in Athens. Stafford had 310 yards passing in his first career 300-yard passing game. A 28-yard field goal by Blair Walsh capped off a 17 play, fourth quarter drive that ran 10 minutes and 55 seconds off the clock. The drive was the longest by an SEC team since LSU had an 11-minute, 2 second drive against Arizona State in 2005.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
Georgia beat the #23-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores, 24-14, on homecoming weekend. Knowshon Moreno had a season high 172 yards and 1 touchdown on 23 carries, and A. J. Green had 7 catches for 132 yards and 1 touchdown.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, LSU
Georgia beat the #11-ranked LSU Tigers, 52–38, in Tiger Stadium. Stafford was 17 of 26 passing for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also added 1 rushing touchdown. Knowshon Moreno rushed 21 times for 163 yards and 1 touchdown on a 68-yard 3rd quarter run. Linebacker Darryl Gamble, starting at middle linebacker position for the injured Dannell Ellerbe, twice intercepted LSU quarterback, Jarrett Lee, for touchdown returns of 40 and 53 yards. A. J. Green had 3 receptions for 89 yards, including a 49-yard 3rd-quarter touchdown.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Florida
Florida routed Georgia, 49–10, in one of the most heavily hyped Florida–Georgia football rivalry games ever. Stafford struggled, going 18 of 33 for 265 yards passing with 0 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. The loss was the largest margin of defeat in Mark Richt's 8-year head coaching career.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Kentucky
Georgia beat Kentucky, 42-38, after Matthew Stafford threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to A. J. Green with 1:54 left in the 4th quarter. Demarcus Dobbs then intercepted a last minute pass from Kentucky quarterback Randall Cobb to preserve the win for Georgia. Stafford had a career-high 376 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. Mohammed Massaquoi also had a career-high 191 receiving yards with 8 receptions and 1 touchdown.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Auburn
Matthew Stafford threw a 17-yard, 4th-quarter touchdown pass to A. J. Green, and the Bulldogs stopped a late Auburn drive to win 17–13. The win marked Georgia's 3rd straight win against Auburn for the first time since winning 3 straight against Auburn from 1980 to 1982.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Georgia Tech
A disappointing regular season for Georgia ended with an upset loss to bitter rival Georgia Tech, snapping Georgia's 7-game winning streak in the series. Georgia had a 28–12 halftime lead but Georgia Tech outscored Georgia 23–0 in the third quarter. Matthew Stafford led the Dawgs with a career-high of 407 yds passing and 5 tds. 3 of those went to Mohamed Massaquoi.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Game summaries, Capital One Bowl
The final game of the season would prove to be the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida against Michigan State. It would be Matthew Stafford's and Knowshon Moreno's last game at UGA. Stafford threw three touchdown passes in the 2nd half of game. The final touchdown of the game was caught by Knowshon Moreno cementing the win for Georgia in this bowl game.


2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team, Players
Head Coach Mark Richt dismissed two players on October 8, 2008. Donavan Baldwin, a safety, and Walter Hill, a wide receiver were removed from the team.


2008 Georgia Democratic presidential primary
The 2008 Georgia Democratic presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and had a total of 87 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Georgia's 13 congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 57. Another 30 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 87 delegates represented Georgia at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Sixteen other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.


2008 Georgia Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
Georgia, with its heavily African American population, gave Barack Obama one of his largest victories in a primary during the course of the Democratic Presidential Primary as he solidly defeated Hillary Clinton by more than a two-to-one margin of victory. According to exit polls, 51 percent of voters in the Georgia Democratic Primary were African Americans and they opted for Obama by a margin of 88-11 compared to the 43 percent of Caucasian voters who backed Clinton by a margin of 53-43.


2008 Georgia Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
Obama won all age groups, educational attainment levels and socioeconomic classes in Georgia except senior citizens aged 65 and over who backed Clinton by a margin of 55-45. Obama won all ideological groups and self-identified Democrats by a margin of 67-32 and Independents by a similar 63-33 percent margin of victory. Obama also swept every major religious denomination – Protestants went for Obama 52-46; Roman Catholics 56-44; other Christians 77-22; other religions 71-24; and atheists/agnostics 69-30.


2008 Georgia Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
Obama performed extremely well throughout the state of Georgia and won over three-quarters of its counties. He performed best in Atlanta where he won 76 percent of the vote as well as its suburbs which backed him 66-32. Central Georgia also strongly favored Obama by a margin of 69-31. Obama did best in the state’s major urban areas like Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus, and Athens as well as a majority of the rural counties that were predominantly African American.


2008 Georgia Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
Clinton performed extremely well in North Georgia, mostly in the more rural, white and conservative parts of the state which are considered to be an extreme part of Appalachia, a region where she consistently did well during the course of the primaries; she defeated Obama by a margin of 48-45 percent in North Georgia.


2008 Georgia Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
Obama received a major endorsement from U.S. Representative John Lewis of Atlanta, a former civil rights activist.


2008 Georgia Force season
The 2008 Georgia Force season was the seventh season for the franchise. Starting the season 3–5, the Force finished the regular season with 7 wins in their last 8 games, ending with a 10–6 record, and winning their second consecutive Southern Division title, allowing them to enter the playoffs as the 2nd seed in the National Conference. They were eliminated from the playoffs in their first playoff game of the season by the Cleveland Gladiators, by a score of 73–70.


2008 Georgia Republican presidential primary
The 2008 Georgia Republican presidential primary took place on February 5, 2008 (Super Tuesday), with 72 national delegates at stake. Mike Huckabee was the winner of the primary.


2008 Georgia Republican presidential primary, Results
* Candidate dropped out of the race before the primary


2008 Georgia Southern Eagles football team
The 2008 Georgia Southern Eagles team represented Georgia Southern University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Eagles were led by second year head coach Chris Hatcher and played their home games at Paulson Stadium. They are a member of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 4–4 in Southern Conference play.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team
The 2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's coach is former Navy Midshipmen and Georgia Southern Eagles coach Paul Johnson. Georgia Tech plays their home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Previous seasons
Georgia Tech continued its 11-year bowl streak under the coaching of Chan Gailey in 2007. Despite this accomplishment, Georgia Tech terminated Gailey the Monday following his sixth loss to archrival University of Georgia. No coach in Georgia Tech history had ever lost six straight to the Bulldogs before Gailey. Gailey failed to finish the season in the Top 25 all six of his head coaching seasons and posted a 12–12 record in November. Gailey's career ended at Georgia Tech with an overall record of 44–31.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Pre-season
Paul Johnson is the new head coach of the Yellow Jackets after posting a 45–29 record at the United States Naval Academy since 2002. Johnson also recorded a 7–1 record in the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy against the Air Force and Army.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Pre-season
Johnson will be installing his option offense at Georgia Tech. In response, 2007 starting QB Taylor Bennett transferred to Louisiana Tech, opening up the 2008 QB job for sophomore Josh Nesbitt and freshman Jaybo Shaw. The Georgia Tech offense returns two of its top four receivers in Greg Smith and Demaryius Thomas, and the Tech defense returns defensive end Michael Johnson and primary interior linemen Darryl Richard and Vance Walker.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Pre-season
In June 2008, former University of Louisville RB Anthony Allen announced he will be transferring to Georgia Tech. Due to NCAA transfer rules, he will be required to sit out the 2008 football season.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Jacksonville State
Georgia Tech ran for 349 yards in the season opener against Jacksonville State. The team was led by Jon Dwyer's 113 yards rushing and pair of touchdown runs. Josh Nesbitt scored two additional rushing touchdowns in the rout. The game featured former Louisiana State University quarterback Ryan Perrilloux who transferred to Jacksonville State after the 2007 football season. Perrilloux led the Gamecocks on their two second-half touchdown drives, but was intercepted twice by Tech safety Morgan Burnett. The Tech defense also added four sacks in the effort. Tech has not lost to an I-AA opponent since its September 17, 1983, game against the Furman Paladins.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Boston College
Georgia Tech overcame a fourth quarter deficit and three lost fumbles to defeat the Boston College Eagles 19–16. The Jackets were led by the running of sophomores Jon Dwyer and Josh Nesbitt. The two combined for all but 8 yards of Georgia Tech's 235 yards of offense. Dwyer added 93 yards of kick returns to his 109 yards rushing. Dwyer scored the go ahead touchdown on a 43-yard run with less than 9 minutes remaining in the game. Georgia Tech's defense sacked first year starter Chris Crane three times in the game and forced three turnovers. Tech remained undefeated all time in Chestnut Hill with the win.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Virginia Tech
The Hokies needed a penalty-aided, fourth quarter drive to put away the Jackets in 20–17 loss for Georgia Tech, the first loss of the season for GT. On Virginia Tech's second to last possession, the Hokies only managed 38 yards of offense but with key defensive penalties moved the ball 76 yards to the Georgia Tech 4 yard line and kicked the go ahead field goal with 4:37 remaining on the game clock. Georgia Tech rushed for 278 yards in the game, led by quarterback Josh Nesbitt's 151 yards and slotback Lucas Cox's 63 yards.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Virginia Tech
Nesbitt also added 109 yards passing with a 41-yard touchdown strike to slotback Roddy Jones followed by a two-point conversion. The Tech defense held VT to only 48 yards passing but gave up 200 yards on the ground. Safety Morgan Burnett added 13 tackles to his total for the season increasing his average to 9 tackles per game for the season. Michael Johnson and Derrick Morgan combined for Tech's lone sack on Virginia Tech QB Tyrod Taylor. ABC took a 6-day option on the time of the Mississippi State gametime and with the loss relegated Tech's home game to a 12:00 pm EST time slot the following week.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Mississippi State
Georgia Tech scored 38 straight points against the Mississippi State Bulldogs to cruise to a 38–7 victory at home. The offense was led by the rushing effort of Jon Dwyer who accumulated 141 yards, a rushing touchdown, and a school record 88 yard touchdown run in the third quarter. True freshman Jaybo Shaw substituted for injured quarterback Josh Nesbitt in the first quarter and would finish the game with 106 total yards, a passing touchdown, and a rushing touchdown.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Mississippi State
The Georgia Tech defense bent but did not break allowing 407 yards of offense but giving up only 7 points, the lowest point allowance of the season. The defense picked off two Mississippi State passes, recovered two fumbles, and accumulated three quarterback sacks. Michael Johnson along with his sack blocked an 18-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter. With the win, Georgia Tech has gone 6–8 against the Southeastern Conference since 2000.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Duke
Georgia Tech started true freshman Jaybo Shaw at quarterback for ailing Josh Nesbitt and rolled over Duke 27–0. Shaw passed for 230 yards and a touchdown all to one receiver sophomore Demaryius Thomas. Thomas caught one pass for a career long 88 yards. Jon Dwyer and Roddy Jones added balance to the Georgia Tech offense accumulating 203 yards on 33 carries. Jones scored Tech's lone rushing touchdown. Georgia Tech's defense held Duke's offense to 0 points and 132 yards after Duke averaged 31 points and 373 yards per game coming into the contest. Tech defenders racked up two sacks and an interception. This was the twenty-sixth shutdown since 1961 for Georgia Tech. The last shutout for a Georgia Tech defense was the 2006 North Carolina game in which Tech won 7–0 and clinched the Coastal Division seat in the ACC Championship Game.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Gardner-Webb
Gardner-Webb's attempt at the upset fell short when the game-tying field goal with 9 seconds remaining was partially blocked by sophomore defensive end Derrick Morgan. Third string redshirt senior Calvin Booker received the starting nod from Paul Johnson before the game to rest ailing quarterbacks Josh Nesbitt and Jaybo Shaw. Tech's worst offensive showing of the season saw Tech only accumulate 79 yards on the ground and give away three turnovers. The lone offensive highlight being a 79-yard touchdown reception by Jon Dwyer in the second quarter. Tech's defense held the Runnin' Bulldogs until 8:25 in the third quarter, in which the Bulldogs marched 69 yards down the field for their lone score. The Tech defense racked up 6 sacks and an interception.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Clemson
On October 13, Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden was fired and was replaced by receivers coach Dabo Swinney. Tech's defense controlled the ebb and flow of the game forcing six turnovers, which included four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Safety Dominique Reese returned an intercepted pass from wide receiver Tyler Grisham for Tech's first touchdown. Morgan Burnett added two additional interceptions, the final in the last second of the game. Offensively, Tech continued to produce with its ground game against the Tigers racking up 207 yards rushing. Josh Nesbitt ran untouched for 5 yards for Tech's second score and passed 24 yards to Demaryius Thomas for Tech's go ahead and eventual game winning score. Tech is 6–1 for the first time since 1999.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Virginia
Georgia Tech dropped its first homecoming decision in thirteen years ending a twelve-game win streak that dates back to 1995. The Cavaliers were aided by three Georgia Tech turnovers. The Georgia Tech defense struggled to contain the Cavaliers giving up almost 400 yards of offense and the most points allowed all season. Tech highlights, however, included two interceptions by the defense and a recovered fumble. Slotback Roddy Jones had a career day with 169 all purpose yards including 75 yards rushing on 11 carries. Tech heads into the Florida State game a half game behind Virginia and a half game ahead of Virginia Tech, Miami, and UNC in the ACC Coastal Division race.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Florida State
Georgia Tech had not defeated Florida State since 1975. The twelve-game losing streak that dated back to 1992 that included three head coaching tenures ended with a 31–28 victory for Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech appeared to have the game clearly in hand until Josh Nesbitt injured his foot with 7:42 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Backup Jaybo Shaw assumed control of the offense and the offense only managed 8 yards of offense in the remaining one and a half quarters.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Florida State
Florida State closed the score differential to 31–28 and drove all the way to the Georgia Tech 3 yard line with 1:20 remaining in the game. On second down, the FSU running back lost control of the football after Safety Cooper Taylor hit the ball with his helmet. Tech's Rashaad Reid recovered the football in the end zone and with two proceeding quarterback kneels ended the dramatic victory. Jon Dwyer added 145 yards rushing and two touchdowns, Roddy Jones added 118 all purpose yards, and starter Josh Nesbitt added 116 additional all purpose yards to the offensive effort.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Florida State
The Tech defense sacked FSU quarterbacks 5 times and forced 3 turnovers. Tech took a half-game lead in the division race with the win. Some refer to the game as the "Miracle on North Avenue," as it ended Georgia Tech's 12 meeting losing run to the Seminoles, and the first time the Yellow Jackets had ever beaten legendary Coach Bobby Bowden since he came to FSU.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, North Carolina
In Georgia Tech's worst offensive showing of the season Tech gave up 3 turnovers and lost 28–7 in Chapel Hill. The defense held UNC's offense in check until the fourth quarter in which a muffed punt, a fumble, and an interception led to three consecutive Tarheel touchdowns. Tech's lone offensive highlight was an 85-yard touchdown run by Jon Dwyer, which was the longest touchdown run recorded against an UNC defense ever. Dwyer's effort for the day put him over 1,000 yards for the season. Tech's defense was led by Michael Johnson who accumulated 6 tackles and sack in the losing effort.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Miami
Georgia Tech has defeated Miami four consecutive years joining Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Kentucky, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech as the only schools to defeat Miami in four consecutive years. Georgia Tech led by as much as 24 and never relented the lead over the Canes as the Tech offense racked up 472 yards rushing. The defense picked off two Miami passes including one by defensive end Michael Johnson, which was returned for the first touchdown of the game. Tech's victory put them in first place in the Coastal Division. Georgia Tech needs Virginia, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina to lose at least one more game to end all tie breaking scenarios. Also of note, the game was dubbed a "White Out" by the Georgia Tech Athletic Association and fans were encouraged to wear white to the game.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Georgia
On the strength of a third quarter offensive explosion, Georgia Tech bested Georgia in Athens 45–42. Tech was led by the rushing efforts of Roddy Jones and Jon Dwyer who were major contributors to Tech's 410 total rushing yards. Jones alone contributed 299 all-purpose yards in the effort. The win ended a seven-year losing streak to the Bulldogs and preserved Tech coach Bobby Dodd's series record eight-game winning streak that ran from 1949–1956.


2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, Game summaries, Chick-fil-A Bowl
A 28-point 2nd quarter by LSU was too much for the Jackets to overcome in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl rout. Tech gave up three turnovers and did not force any. Tech passed 24 times in the game and accumulated 150 yards of passing offense alongside 164 yards of rushing offense. Tech's offense was led by Jon Dwyer's 123 all purpose yards. Tech's defense was led by Morgan Burnett. Burnett had 14 total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Senior Michael Johnson added two sacks to Tech's effort.


2008 Georgia state elections
Georgia's state elections were held on November 4, 2008. The primary elections were held on February 5, also known as Super Tuesday.


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Presidential election, Presidential General election
In the General election, Republican nominee John McCain prevailed over Democratic nominee Barack Obama in Georgia by 52.23% to 47.02%. McCain's five point margin of victory was significantly down from George W. Bush's seventeen point margin of victory over John Kerry in 2004. Though Obama benefited from high turnout by black and young voters as well as strong performance in Georgia's Urban areas, McCain's comparatively stronger performance in the rural northern and southeastern parts of the state as well as winning seventy-seven percent of white voters. gave him the overall victory.


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Presidential election, Presidential General election
The 2008 Presidential election was particularly interesting in the state of Georgia considering that of the several independent and third party candidates who ran for president that year, two of them were from Georgia (those being former Republican Representative Bob Barr (L) (who placed third overall in the popular vote in Georgia) and former Democratic Representative Cynthia McKinney (G)).


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Congressional elections
During the 2008 Congressional elections, Georgia's Class II Senate seat and all thirteen House seats were up for election.


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Congressional elections, United States Senate election
In 2008, incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) ran for re-election for a second term. His opponents were former Commissioner of Human Resources Jim Martin (D) and Attorney and CPA Allen Buckley (L).


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Congressional elections, United States Senate election
Despite holding a substantial lead over Martin for most of the year, however, the race tightened following the September 2008 market collapse and Chambliss's vote for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, otherwise commonly known as the bailout package. Martin criticized his opponent for voting for the bailout and also, as earlier, repeatedly claimed he supported a supposed twenty-three percent increase in taxes (referring to the FairTax) during his career in Congress.


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Congressional elections, United States Senate election
Chambliss accused his opponent, who cast himself as a fiscal conservative, of acting hypocritically for increasing and padlocking his own salary as Commissioner of Human Resources from 2002–2003 while the state of Georgia was experiencing a budget crisis. Libertarian nominee Allen Buckley, who on occasion joined Martin in his disapproval of Chambliss's vote for the controversial bailout, campaigned positioning himself as an alternative to both of the major party candidates.


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Congressional elections, United States Senate election
On election day, Chambliss was kept below the minimum of fifty percent plus one vote to win outright, winning 49% to Martin's 46%, and was thus forced into a runoff. Both campaigns sought the endorsement of Buckley, but he refused to endorse either candidate. Chambliss ultimately prevailed over Martin in the December runoff winning 57.4% to 42.6%.


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Congressional elections, United States House of Representatives elections
All thirteen of Georgia's incumbent Representatives sought re-election in 2008. Going into the elections, Republicans held seven of Georgia's U.S. House seats and Democrats held six seats.


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Congressional elections, United States House of Representatives elections
Despite significant gains by Republicans in Georgia since 2002, such as consecutive Republican victories since in Presidential elections since 1996, gaining both of Georgia's U.S. Senate seats, the election of Sonny Perdue as Georgia's first post-Reconstruction Republican governor in 2002, successful elections of Republicans to other state executive offices, and gaining control of both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly for the first time since Reconstruction, Democrats have succeeded in gaining seats of Georgia's House delegation in recent House elections.


2008 Georgia state elections, Federal elections, United States Congressional elections, United States House of Representatives elections
Despite Republican efforts to oust Representatives Jim Marshall (GA-8) and John Barrow (GA-12), who were each re-elected in 2006 by extremely close margins despite that being a bad year for Republicans, both of them were re-elected by significant margins. None of Georgia's House seats changed hands in this election.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, State Executive Officer elections, Georgia Public Service Commission elections
In 2008, two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission were up for election. Though candidates must come from the districts that they wish to represent on the commission, however, they are elected statewide.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Georgia General Assembly elections, Georgia Senate elections
In 2008, there were no particularly competitive General election races for the Georgia State Senate. The closest state Senate election was in the Forty-sixth District in which incumbent State Senator Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) defeated Sherry L. Jackson (D) 57.8% to 42.2%. However, of the incumbents who sought re-election that year, two were defeated in their respective parties primaries, those being Gail Davenport (D-Dis. 44) and Nancy Schaefer (R-Dis. 50).


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Georgia General Assembly elections, Georgia House of Representatives elections
Rep. Charles F. Jenkins (D-Blairsville) received a strong challenge from Stephen Allison (R) in 2008. Jenkins had survived a close call in the previous state House election and thus was a prime target of Peach state Republicans. Allison ultimately prevailed by a narrow margin.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Georgia General Assembly elections, Georgia House of Representatives elections
Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome) sought re-election in Floyd County, and faced her 2006 challenger Bob Puckett (who lost by just 168 votes) again. Despite Puckett's strong and energetic campaign, Dempsey ultimately prevailed again, this time defeating Puckett by 289 votes.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Georgia General Assembly elections, Georgia House of Representatives elections
Incumbent Rep. Jeff Lewis (R-White) was defeated for renomination by Paul R. Battles by a margin of 51.6% to 48.4%. Battles subsequently won the general election without opposition.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Georgia General Assembly elections, Georgia House of Representatives elections
Rep. Rick Crawford (D-Cedartown) faced a challenge from Bob Culver (R). Crawford was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives by narrow margin in 2006 and thus Georgian Republicans targeted the freshman Representative for defeat. Despite Republican efforts to oust him, Crawford won re-election, albeit by another close margin.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Georgia General Assembly elections, Georgia House of Representatives elections
Democrat George Wilson of Stone Mountain lost to incumbent Rep. Robert Mumford (R-Conyers) in 2006 by about 500 votes. Wilson is running again, but Mumford is retiring. "Obama at the top would be a plus," Wilson said. "We got so close."


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Georgia General Assembly elections, Georgia House of Representatives elections
Erick Hunt would win the Republican primary without opposition but Wilson would lose the Democratic nod to Toney L. Collins who would go on to defeat Hunt 61.8% to 38.2%


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Judicial elections
In 2008, two seats on the Supreme Court of Georgia and three on the Georgia Court of Appeals were up for election. All judicial elections in Georgia are officially non-partisan.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Judicial elections, Supreme Court of Georgia elections
Incumbent state Supreme Court Associate Justices Robert Benham and Harris Hines were re-elected without opposition.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Judicial elections, Georgia Court of Appeals elections
Two judges, those being Gary Andrews and Charles B. Mikell, were re-elected without opposition and one, John H. Ruffin, Jr, retired.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Judicial elections, Georgia Court of Appeals elections
Following Ruffin's retirement announcement, a field of candidates emerged to run for the seat. The seven candidates who would run in the election were Dekalb County prosecutor Mike Sheffield, state Senators (former and then-current respectively Perry McGuire (R) (the 2006 Republican Attorney General nominee) and Michael Meyer von Bremen (D) (who at the time was the Chairman of the Senate Special Judiciary committee), and attorneys Sara Doyle, Tamela Adkins, Christopher McFadden, and Bruce Edenfield. No candidate was able to win the race outright and so the top two vote getters, Doyle and Sheffield, would face each other in the run off. Doyle narrowly prevailed in the runoff to win election to the Court of Appeals.


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Initiatives and referenda
Three proposed amendments to the Georgia State Constitution were placed on the ballot for Georgian voters to decide. The proposed amendments were:


2008 Georgia state elections, State elections, Initiatives and referenda
The first two proposed amendments were passed while the third was rejected.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion
The 2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion was an industrial disaster that occurred on February 7, 2008, in Port Wentworth, Georgia, United States. Fourteen people were killed and forty injured when a dust explosion occurred at a sugar refinery owned by Imperial Sugar. Dust explosions had been an issue of concern among United States authorities since three fatal accidents in 2003, with efforts made to improve safety and reduce the risk of recurrence.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion
The refinery was large and old, featuring outdated construction methods, and these factors are believed to have contributed to the fire's severity. The origin of the explosion has been narrowed down to the center of the factory. It was believed to have occurred in a basement beneath storage silos. Investigations conducted by the Department of Justice ruled out deliberate criminal activity in 2013.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion
As a result of the disaster, new safety legislation was proposed. The local economy declined because the factory was closed down. Imperial intended to rebuild it and return to production by the end of 2008, with replacement buildings to be completed by summer the following year. Some victims filed legal suits for damages against the owner and the company hired to clean up the refinery. Imperial said that the explosion was the main reason for a major loss in the first quarter of 2008.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board released its report on the incident in September 2009, saying that the explosion had been "entirely preventable". Investigations by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also concluded that sugar dust was the fuel for an explosion that could have been prevented. By September 2010, 44 suits had been filed in Chatham County Court against Imperial Sugar and/or its cleaning contractor. Eighteen have been settled.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Background
The sugar refinery was a four-story structure on the bank of the Savannah River. Imperial Sugar, based in Sugar Land, Texas, had bought the refinery and its brand name in 1997 from a previous local owner. Known since construction as the Dixie Crystal refinery, it was the main employer in the town of 3,500 prior to the disaster.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Background
The refinery was constructed in 1916 by 400 people who were moved from Louisiana specifically for the purpose, and opened the following year. Imperial bought the refinery together with Savannah Foods to form part of a national supply and distribution network to meet demand from businesses such as Piggly Wiggly, General Mills and Wal-Mart. The refinery sat on a 160 acres (0.65 km2; 0.25 sq mi) site and was spread across 872,000 square feet (81,000 m2) of it. This network was the second largest in the US. Workers described the factory as antiquated, with much of the machinery dating back more than 28 years. They said the site had continued operating because it had good access to rail and shipping links for transport.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Background
In the last full fiscal year before the disaster, which ended on September 30, 2007, the facility refined 14.51 million hundredweight of sugar, 9% of the nation's requirements, compared to Imperial's Gramercy, Louisiana, refinery, which refined 11.08 million hundredweight of sugar in the same time period. 90% of the raw sugar supplied to the facility came from overseas in that year, and the company expected the "vast majority" to come in from abroad in the year of the explosion as well.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Background
In the time leading up to the explosion, Imperial Sugar had run into financial difficulties. In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, sales fell 8%, while profits were down 50% from that year's fourth quarter, and stock also down by half since April 2007. The last two annual reports by Imperial before the explosion said that any damage to the facility at Port Wentworth would "have a material effect on the company's business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows".


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Background
Meanwhile, in 2004 the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board conducted a study into the risks presented by dust explosions after three fatal accidents in the year before. The West Pharmaceutical Services explosion killed six persons, the CTA Acoustics fiberglass insulation manufacturing plant explosion killed seven, and the Hayes Lemmerz automotive parts plant explosion killed one, prompting the report. Their report showed that between 1980 and 2005, there had been 281 explosions involving combustible dust, resulting in 119 deaths and 718 injuries.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Background
The Board found that dust explosions posed a severe risk and made a number of recommendations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. These had been partly implemented by 2008. The Board continued to be concerned about the potential for further fatal accidents up until Imperial's refinery was the scene of an explosion.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Explosion and emergency response
The explosion occurred at 7:00 p.m. local time in what was initially believed to be a room where sugar was bagged by workers. Witnesses from across the Savannah River in South Carolina reported seeing flames shoot up several stories high. There were 112 employees on-site at the time. The explosion occurred in the center of the refinery, where bagging and storage facilities were fed completed product by a network of elevators and conveyor belts. Many of the buildings there were six to eight stories high with narrow gaps in between.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Explosion and emergency response
Ambulances responded to the scene from across twelve counties, and firefighters from three. The United States Coast Guard closed off the river in the area, and a firefighting tug boat was used to douse the resulting fire from the river. A helicopter was used to search the river for anyone who may have been thrown into it by the blast. Refinery workers were brought in to assist with search and rescue operations, as emergency services personnel were unfamiliar with the plant's layout. Red Cross worker Joyce Baker was among the first to arrive at the scene. She reported that it was like "walking into hell", with some of the men she treated having "no skin at all", while others had skin "just dripping off them".


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Explosion and emergency response
The Georgia Emergency Management Agency alerted local hospitals to prepare for up to 100 casualties. A doctor at nearby Memorial Health hospital described patients arriving at an emergency triage as varying in condition from suffering minor burns to their hands to having received 80-90% burns, with many in critical condition, and one with 95% burns. The victims' ages ranged from 18 to 50. Many victims were placed in artificial comas because they were on life support systems. Eight were transported by helicopter to the specialized Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia, about an hour away. Five of those injured later died there while receiving treatment.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Explosion and emergency response
A church close to the refinery was used as a point for families seeking information on relatives employed at the facility. So many people turned up that police requested that each family send only one representative. At the close of the day of the explosion, six people were missing, with no confirmed deaths. Overnight, several deep-seated fires were uncovered and firefighting continued the next day.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Explosion and emergency response
Most of the three-mile (5 km) stretch of river that had previously been closed was reopened without restriction, although a patrol remained in place to enforce a safety zone. The river restrictions delayed one outgoing vessel and two incoming ones. There was also a minor oil spill originating from equipment at the refinery's unoccupied and rarely used dock.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Explosion and emergency response
The explosion seriously weakened the structure of the facility, leaving it highly unstable, and there was extensive smoke damage. The packaging area was totally destroyed and in all, 12% of the refinery was demolished by the explosion. Removal of debris began the day after the accident, with assistance from structural engineers. The six missing persons were all found dead that day, three of them in tunnels running beneath the factory. The final death toll was thirteen. It was the first major shutdown of a US sugar refinery since American Sugar Refining Inc.'s Domino Sugar shut down its plant in Chalmette, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Explosion and emergency response
By February 14, 2008, the worst of the fire had been extinguished. The 100 foot (30 m) sugar storage silos remained alight despite attempts to put the fire out by dousing them with thousands of gallons of water from a helicopter. Specialist crews and equipment were called in to complete work tackling the smoldering, molten sugar in the silos. At this time, seven bodies had been recovered, and an eighth person had died in the hospital.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Investigation
The location of the explosion was quickly established as a building used to store refined sugar prior to packaging it and two of three 100 foot (30 m) tall, 18 inches (46 cm) thick reinforced concrete storage silos adjacent to it, as pictured. According to Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor, the accumulated sugar dust likely acted like gunpowder. Sheptor, who was in the plant at the time of the explosion, survived only because he was protected by a firewall. Heavy equipment had to be used to shore up the partially collapsed structure before firefighters could enter it to search for victims. Within 24 hours, the explosive substance was identified as sugar dust.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Investigation
Federal investigations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) were launched, and they interviewed witnesses, checked documentation, and conducted on-scene examination of the plant. OSHA arrived within two hours and the CSB within 48 hours. Other brief investigations were conducted by state firefighters and police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, but these were ended quickly after confirming there was no evidence of the explosion and fire having been deliberately started. In a press conference held on February 17, 2008, one of the six members of the CSB team said that the explosion showed the ongoing risk from dust explosions despite their report highlighting the matter in 2004.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Investigation
Investigators were unable to enter the silos as OSHA ruled them to be too hazardous after the explosion. They were only able to access the area after the silos were demolished. By the time this took place, four months after the disaster, investigators believed that the explosion started in a basement area beneath the silos, from which sugar was fed up to the packaging building on conveyor belts. The factory's outdated construction materials and methods are believed to have contributed to the severity of the blaze. The ceiling was of wooden tongue and groove design.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Investigation
The creosote used throughout was known as “fat lighter,” because of the fire risk it posed. Interviews of Imperial Sugar employees conducted by OSHA uncovered a lack of training, as 40 of the workers reported never receiving training on how to exit the building in an emergency. Only five employees recalled having a fire drill.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Aftermath, Initial response
Imperial's refinery in Louisiana was shut down by the company six weeks after the Port Wentworth disaster, over fears a similar explosion would occur there. It was kept from operating for more than a week. OSHA fined Imperial $36,000 over safety legislation violations at that plant.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Aftermath, Initial response
The Georgia plant's 371 workers continued to receive payment from Imperial, and 275 were rehired to assist with cleanup and demolition of parts of the refinery that could not be salvaged. Work began on April 18, 2008, after Imperial's board confirmed their intention to rebuild. The plan was for the plant to return to sugar refining by the end of 2008. Demolition of the sugar silos was conducted on June 24, 2008 with a wrecking ball. A replacement packaging building and new sugar silos were intended to be completed by summer 2009.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Aftermath, Initial response
During demolition, 2,800,000 pounds (1,300,000 kg) of fire-hardened sugar were recovered from one silo, and another 500,000 pounds (230,000 kg) from the second. The company hoped to recycle the product for ethanol production. In the first quarter of 2008, Imperial posted a $15.5 million loss, which they said was primarily due to the explosion. Port Wentworth suffered an economic depression after the accident, with local businesses losing many customers. Imperial Sugar was purchased in 2012 by the Louis Dreyfus Group.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Aftermath, Reports from OSHA and CSB
Within a month of the accident, OSHA, fearing that relevant employers may be unaware their facilities presented a risk of dust explosions, sent a letter to 30,000 employees to alert them to the danger of a similar explosion occurring. OSHA also proposed the Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008, a new bill aimed at introducing regulations to reduce the risk of dust explosions. The bill passed the United States House of Representatives but never passed the United States Senate. In 2009 OSHA began developing a federal standard for combustible dust. Congress introduced a bill in 2013 to require OSHA to issue an interim standard based on the voluntary combustible standard set by National Fire Protection Association


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Aftermath, Reports from OSHA and CSB
The Chemical Safety Board released its report in September 2009, saying the explosion had been "entirely preventable". It noted that the sugar industry had been aware of the risk of dust explosions since 1926. Specifically, internal company memorandums by managers in 1967 expressed their concern about the potential of explosions from sugar dust. Imperial Sugar had recently made construction changes that enabled the accumulation of sugar dust. It had never practiced evacuation procedures, and the lack of emergency lighting meant that people were confined to dark hallways and tunnels at the time of the explosions.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Aftermath, Legal issues
Victims of the disaster continued to file claims against Imperial Sugar and its construction contractor. By September 2010, 44 civil suits had been filed in Chatham County Court in relation to the explosion, and eighteen had been settled. The state appeals court rejected an effort by defendants' attorneys for a pre-trial appeal in two related cases in an effort to limit damages. In 2011 Lawrence Manker, Jr., an Imperial Sugar worker who underwent 70 surgeries for burns covering 85% of his body after the plant explosion, settled his lawsuit with the company for an undisclosed amount. He was the last victim to leave a hospital burn unit.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Aftermath, Legal issues
In March 2008 Raquel Islas, a female worker whose arms were burnt, sued Savannah company Stokes Contracting, who was a contracted construction company. In April 2008 the widow of Shelathia Harvey also sued Stokes, as well as Savannah Foods. It was a wholly owned subsidiary after Imperial bought them out and the factory was still owned in its name. In August, 2008 Malcolm Frazier succumbed to his injuries, bringing the total number of deaths to fourteen. Frazier, who suffered burns over 85% percent of his body, died at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, where he had remained since the explosion.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Aftermath, Legal issues
The Department of Labor requested that Ed Tarver, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, pursue criminal prosecution against Imperial Sugar and its executives. OSHA cited Imperial with 124 safety violations, finding that the company acted with "plain indifference to, or intentional disregard for, employee safety and health". Tarver said there was not enough evidence of intentional disregard or plain indifference to bring criminal charges against Imperial. He also cited a lack of federal criminal laws specifically related to safety in the sugar industry as a reason for his decision.


2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, Monument
On February 7, 2009, a monument honoring the people lost in the explosion was dedicated at Legacy Park, on the grounds of the Port Wentworth plant. OSHA fined Imperial $8.8 million in May 2010 after citing the company for 211 violations at the Port Wentworth plant and a plant in Gramercy, Louisiana. After settlement negotiations the company agreed to pay $6 million, while admitting no fault.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on May 21, 2008. President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed a referendum on bringing them forward from October to April after the 2007 Georgian demonstrations. The referendum was held at the same time as the early presidential election on 5 January 2008; according to exit polls, voters were largely in favour of having the elections in spring.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election
The Central Election Commission has registered 3,458,020 voters. The election was observed by 14 international and 31 local organizations.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Pre-election process
The pre-election process has principally been monitored by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) as well as several local watchdogs. The PACE observers have reported “little or no improvement” in the political climate since the January 5 presidential election which was held in the tense aftermath of the November 2007 political crisis and resulted in the reelection of Mikheil Saakashvili to his second term.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Pre-election process
The monitoring mission has noted that “the political climate is still dominated by a lack of trust and absence of constructive dialogue between the authorities and the opposition”, one result of this being “the failure of the electoral reform that the authorities and the opposition agreed upon in the aftermath of the November 2007 events.”


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Pre-election process
The amendments to the election code passed by the Parliament in March 2008 took into account recommendations made by the PACE, such as abolition of the additional voters’ lists and voter registration on polling day; lowering of the election threshold from 7% to 5%; the simplification and clarification of election related complaints and appeals procedures; the introduction of party representation in the District Election Commissions. However, the PACE noted that a number of its other recommendations remained unaddressed.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Pre-election process
This period has also witnessed significant reshuffle within the major political players. On February 29, 2008, the moderate Republican Party of Georgia left the nine-party opposition coalition, which spearheaded anti-government protests in November 2007, announcing that they would run independently for the parliamentary election, targeting mainly moderate and undecided voters. On the other hand, the opposition New Rights party, which had distanced themselves from the 2007 demonstrations, now joined the nine-party coalition under an election bloc named United Opposition–New Rights.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Pre-election process
Another key event, which sent shockwaves across Georgia's political scene on April 21, 2008, was the refusal by Nino Burjanadze, the outgoing parliamentary chairwoman and Saakashvili's ally, to run on the president-led United National Movement (UNM) ticket, citing an absence of consensus within the UNM leadership regarding the party list.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Contending parties
Three election blocs and nine parties are contesting this election. These are:


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Contending parties
The Central Election Commission refused 37 political parties to register for the election for various irregularities in their submissions.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Opinion polls
On May 5, 2008, the United States-based company Greenberg Quinlan Rosner published results of the United National Movement-commissioned survey according to which the UNM had the support of 44 percent, compared to 12 percent for the United Opposition Council, 11 percent for the Christian Democratic Movement, 7 percent for the Labour Party of Georgia, and 4 percent for the Republican Party; 16 percent were undecided.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Conduct
On election day 21 May, there was a shooting incident in the village Khurcha near Zugdidi in the west of the country. Three people were taken to hospital. Close-up footage of the shooting was captured by a TV crew from Rustavi 2. President Saakashvili claimed that the shooting had been an attempt to disrupt the election. An investigation was carried out by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee within hours, and concluded that the shooting had most likely been carried out by Georgian forces.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Conduct
On 22 May 2008, OSCE observers stated that the poll was an improvement from the presidential election held earlier that year, but that it was stilled marred by a number of imperfections. Early results indicated that UNM had 63% and the United Opposition Council 13%, but the opposition's partial results from Tbilisi gave the UOC 40% and UNM 32%. The first results indicate that the Christian Democrats and the Labour Party also cleared the threshold.


2008 Georgian parliamentary election, Aftermath
The Joint Opposition and the Labour Party announced they would boycott parliament, which held its inaugural session on June 7, 2008, while the CDM refused to join them.


2008 Georgian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Georgia on 5 January 2008, moved forward from autumn 2008 by President Mikheil Saakashvili after the 2007 demonstrations.


2008 Georgian presidential election
A referendum on when to hold the legislative elections was held at the same date. On 26 November 2007 the President's office announced that Georgia would hold another simultaneous referendum on NATO membership.


2008 Georgian presidential election
Saakashvili was declared a winner with 53.7% of the votes despite the accusation of electoral fraud by the Georgian opposition. International observers welcomed the elections as "the first genuinely competitive presidential election" in the history of Georgia, and said, despite observed irregularities, the elections generally met the democratic standards.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
In a November 2007 pre-election poll held by the weekly Mteli Kvira, the opposition candidate Gachechiladze defeated Saakashvili by 2% (18% to 16%).


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
In a December 2007 poll commissioned by Saakashvili's party, the BCG company surveyed of 13,000 respondents throughout Georgia showed that 29.5% of voters were still undecided. 36.7% said they would vote for Saakashvili, followed by Gachechiladze with 9.7%; Patarkatsishvili – 4.7%; Gamkrelidze – 3%; Natelashvili – 2.5%; Maisashvili and Sarishvili had less than 1% each. One percent said they would vote for none of the candidates. The survey showed that 63.5% of those who had decided to vote for one of the candidates would vote for Saakashvili, followed by Gachechiladze and Patarkatsishvili with 16.7% and 8.1%, respectively.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
Another survey, also commissioned by Saakashvili's party, was overseen by the U.S. based Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research but conducted by the Georgian ACT group. This survey involved 1,500 respondents, 41% would vote for Saakashvili, followed by Gachechiladze – 11.1%; Patarkatsishvili – 6.5%; Natelashvili – 3.5%; Gamkrelidze – 2.1%; Maisashvili and Sarishvili – less than 1% each. 20.6% were undecided and 2.3% said they wouldn’t vote for any candidate. Of those who have decided to vote for one of the candidates, 64% said they would vote for Saakashvili, followed by Gachechiladze and Patarkatsishvili with 17% and 10%, respectively.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
On December 23, 2007, the pro-opposition Imedi TV announced that the organization called Dialogue for Development of Democracy conducted public opinion research between December 17 and December 21.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
The survey showed, that 22.1% of the 2,100 surveyed would support Levan Gachechiladze, a presidential candidate backed by the nine-party opposition coalition, followed by Mikheil Saakashvili with 20.3%; Badri Patarkatsishvili (co-owner of Imedi TV) – 19.1%; Shalva Natelashvili, the leader of the Labor Party – 6.5%; Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of the New Rights Party – 4.9%; Giorgi Maisashvili, leader of Party of Future – 1.1% and Irina Sarishvili, leader of Party of Hope – 0.2%. The survey reported that 21.7% remained undecided.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
A survey, commissioned by the Saakashvili’s campaign from the U.S.-based Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, was published on January 3, 2008. It showed that Saakashvili had the support of 42 percent among all Georgian adults, compared to 19 percent for Levan Gachechiladze, 11 percent for Badri Patarkatsishvili, 5 percent for Shalva Natelashvili, 4 percent for David Gamkrelidze, and 1 percent for Gia Maisashvili; 2 percent would not vote or vote blank, and 16 percent were undecided. The survey reported only a minority of Georgian voters felt the presidential elections would not be fair.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
All major national television broadcasters plan to conduct their own exit polls and have commissioned seven local research groups.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
In late December, Patarkatsishvili, who had pledged his financial support to the November rallies, became embroiled in a major controversy. The authorities accused him of trying to bribe an election official to claim voting fraud and released a series of audio and video recordings of the two separate meetings of the high-ranking Georgian Interior Ministry official Erekle Kodua with Patarkatsishvili and the head of his pre-election campaign Valeri Gelbakhiani.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
According to these materials, Patarkatsishvili tried to bribe Kodua to take part in what the Georgian officials described as an attempted coup d'état on January 6, 2008, the date of the scheduled presidential elections. The plan included to stage a mass manifestation against the government and to "neutralize" the Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili. Patarkatsishvili confirmed that he met with Kedua in London, but denied the bribe was in connection to a coup plot. He claimed instead his intention was to uncover official plans to rig the election.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
He also confirmed that he offered Kedua "a huge amount of money" in exchange for defecting from the authorities to avert the possible use of government force against the planned January rallies. On December 26, 2007, several leading journalists defected from Imedi TV, co-owned by Patarkatsishvili. Later that day, the television station’s management announced that Imedi TV temporarily suspended broadcasts until the station's "legal status in respect of ownership is clarified." "By doing so we are distancing from dirty political games", said Giorgi Targamadze, head of the Imedi TV's political programs. The opposition politicians formerly allied with him also made attempts to distance from Patarkatsishvili and condemned what they described as illegal methods used by both the authorities and "other forces," apparently referring to Patarkatsishvili.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
On December 28, 2007, Patarkatsishvili announced that he would withdraw his bid for presidency, but would remain a candidate until January 4, 2008. On January 3, 2008, he reversed himself and decided to run in presidential elections. In response, his top campaign official Giorgi Zhvania (brother of the late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania) resigned, declaring that Patarkasishvili does not have a reputation one would expect of a country's president.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
Meanwhile, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) released two interim reports on the election campaign, saying that the "legal framework [was] generally favorable to the conduct of democratic elections in Georgia, if implemented in good faith." However, they expressed concerns about "a highly polarized political environment" within the country's political spectrum, including the allegations of Saakashvili's use of administrative resources and the lack of balance in Georgian media.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
On December 28, 2007, Saakashvili vowed to lead Georgia into NATO and to restore its territorial integrity in his second term if reelected  He stated he would hand over a united Georgia to his successor after the end of his second term.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Background
The pre-election period in Georgia was also marked with the rising tension in breakaway Abkhazia. Early in January 2008, the Georgian media reported attacks on ethnic Georgians in the Gali district controlled by the de facto Abkhaz administration. The reports said that the Georgians living in Abkhazia were being intimidated by local Abkhaz officials to prevent them from participating in Georgia's presidential election. At least seven houses owned by ethnic Georgians were destroyed by fire. Although Abkhaz officials rejected the accusations, the acting Georgian president Nino Burjanadze warned that attempts were being made to add conflict on the eve of the election.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Candidates
Badri Patarkatsishvili, a business oligarch who made a fortune in Russia, announced he would be a candidate on 10 November 2007. The government of Georgia accused Patarkatsishvili of plotting a Russia-backed coup against Saakashvili. The opposition parties stated they would nominate a single candidate for the election, that would have a "great chance of winning the election." The nominee would not be Patarkatsishvili, former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili or the activist Tina Khidasheli. On November 12, the opposition parties nominated MP Levan Gachechiladze, a leader of the 2007 Georgian demonstrations, as their common candidate. The Georgian Labour Party supported its leader Shalva Natelashvili as a candidate instead of Gachechiladze, and the New Right nominated MP Davit Gamkrelidze as their candidate.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Candidates
Saakashvili was nominated as his party's candidate on 23 November.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Candidates
Twenty-two citizens of Georgia expressed willingness to run in the elections. According to the Georgian election code each of them had to submit at least 50,000 signatures of supporters in order to be registered by the Central Election Commission as official candidates.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Candidates
In total, thirteen candidates submitted signatures, but only seven were recognized by the Central Election Commission (CEC) as eligible to run for the presidency:


2008 Georgian presidential election, Conduct
In addition to local watchdogs, 29 international or foreign organizations (including OSCE, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and International Crisis Group) observed the elections.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Conduct
Early on election day all polling stations were opened with the exception of the highland village of Shatili where heavy snow thwarted the process.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Exit polls, Exit polls
The first exit poll results were conflicting according to a survey commissioned by 4 TV stations (Georgian Public Broadcaster, Rustavi 2, Mze, and Achara TV) from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), Ilia Chavchavadze State University and two think-tanks – the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) and the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS). The exit polls found Mikhail Saakashvili winning with a narrow absolute majority of 53.5% of the votes, with Levan Gachechiladze coming second with 29.1%. Voter turnout was 46.4%. Twenty-three percent of respondents refused to say for whom they had voted. The poll had a margin of error of 2%. The figures were provisional, with final results not expected for another few hours.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Exit polls, Exit polls
According to a relatively unknown Ukrainian think tank "Common European Cause", which claimed to have interviewed 10,000 people at 200 polling stations, Gachechiladze won the most votes (31%), followed by Saakashvili (24.4%) and Patarkatsishvili (20.3%).


2008 Georgian presidential election, Reactions
The opposition candidates claimed the polls were rigged and the exit-polls false. Supporters for Levan Gachechiladze were waiting for official results, but the candidate himself called for a January 6 meeting in Tbilisi to protect the true results of the election. On the 6th January about 7 to 9000 supporters of the opposition went to the Rike Square in Tbilisi. Opposition leaders urged their adherents to return on 8 January and to celebrate the victory of Levan Gachechiladze. Meanwhile, the OSCE and EU election observers stated that the election met democratic standards, but there were problems that must be addressed.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Reactions
The Western observers also hailed it as "the first genuinely competitive presidential election, which enabled the Georgian people to express their political choice." In an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau the German diplomat Dieter Boden the head of the OSCE Election Observation Mission stated the elections were massively falsified and that there were "rude, negligent and intentional manipulations during the vote count that were detected by our observers". He spoke of a "chaotic situation" within the electoral commission.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Reactions
On January 10, however,  representative of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights mission in Georgia, Rasto Kuzel, declared that the OSCE has not changed its positive evaluation of the January 5 presidential election  The OSCE Office explained "Mr. Boden's published statements do not quite reflect what he really said, and we shall look into how that happened" and that "the interview was not published completely. Some definitions were cut from the interview." On January 11, Boden stated that the confusion "was the result of a journalist's misinterpretation" and said the final report would be published in February 2008.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Reactions
The Central Election Committee also stated the turnout was 56.17%, or 1,912,943 voters. As announced by the Central Election Committee by 20.00 (16.00 GMT), January 6, the data from 2,605  precincts was counted. Saakashvili was in the lead with 51.95% of the votes, and Gachechiladze is second with 25.14%. According to Georgian Central Electoral Commission, as of 8 January 2008, that included the votes from more polling stations than the earlier reports, Saakashvili was leading with 52.21%, Gachechiladze following him with 25.26% of the votes.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Reactions
On 9 January 2007, with 98.8% of the ballots counted, Saakashvili had 52.21% meaning he could not fall below the 50% which would result in a run-off. However the opposition continued to protest the result, claiming vote-rigging had taken place and demanding a run-off, also asking for the resignation of the head of the CEC. Badri Patarkatsishvili an opposition candidate was later charged with attempting to organise a terrorist attack and plotting a coup.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Reactions
On 13 January 2008, most opposition parties united in a large rally in downtown Tbilisi demanding run-off of the elections.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Conclusions of the OSCE and Georgian human rights ombudsman
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) final report was critical of the conduct of the election.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Conclusions of the OSCE and Georgian human rights ombudsman
Election day was generally peaceful. Overall, voting was assessed positively by a large majority of IEOM observers, although it was at times disorganized and chaotic in a considerable number of precincts. Organizational and procedural shortcomings were observed, especially with regard to inconsistent application of inking procedures intended as a safeguard against multiple voting. Observers also reported a limited number of serious violations, including ballot box stuffing. The vote count and tabulation was evaluated less positively. Many PECs had problems completing the results protocols, which were often not posted for public scrutiny.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Conclusions of the OSCE and Georgian human rights ombudsman
IEOM observers reported cases of tampering with voter lists, results and protocols. The tabulation process at DEC level was slow and often chaotic. Some PEC protocols given to the OSCE/ ODIHR EOM differed from those provided by DECs, and many PEC protocols were incomplete or inconsistent. A significant number of PECs reported unusually high turnout in the last three hours of voting, and several DECs reported a turnout considerably higher than the national average. Only a limited number of official complaints were filed during the pre-electoral period, almost all against the ruling party and its candidate.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Conclusions of the OSCE and Georgian human rights ombudsman
Although courts generally carried out open hearings in a professional and thorough manner, some complaints were ruled inadmissible without sound legal basis, and some written judgments did not set out sufficient reasoning. In addition, the CEC and courts tended to stretch the law beyond reasonable interpretation and without regard to its spirit in favour of the ruling party candidate and public officials. After election day, the election administration and the courts did not fully and adequately consider and investigate a considerable number of complaints regarding irregularities, some of which were of a serious nature. A large number of complaints were also ruled inadmissible or dismissed on technical grounds.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Conclusions of the OSCE and Georgian human rights ombudsman
The Georgian Human Rights Ombudsman, Sozar Subari, was highly critical of the election proceedings. In addition to identifying breaches of the law, his report stated:


2008 Georgian presidential election, Conclusions of the OSCE and Georgian human rights ombudsman
[ T]he pre-election environment was not equal and fair. This time, as usual, the alarming tendency of blurring the distinction between the presidential candidate of the ruling party and the state authority occurred, which was expressed through the direct political involvement of the different agencies (especially law enforcement agencies) of the executive branch in the electoral processes.


2008 Georgian presidential election, Conclusions of the OSCE and Georgian human rights ombudsman
One of the proofs of the involvement of the mentioned agencies is that the electoral headquarters of the ruling party's candidate was in reality led by the Minister of Internal Affairs, who was conducting meetings and assigning local party leaders, heads of police departments, employees of the Constitutional Security and Special Operative Departments, prosecutors, and governors with particular election-related tasks.


2008 Georgian referendum
A double referendum was held in Georgia on 5 January 2008 alongside presidential elections. One question was a binding referendum on whether to bring forward the 2008 parliamentary elections from October to April/May. The second was a non-binding advisory referendum on joining NATO. Both proposals were approved with over 75% in favour. Parliamentary elections were subsequently held on 21 May.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns
2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns refers to seven occasions during the course of March, April and May 2008 where Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia claimed to have shot down unmanned Georgian reconnaissance aircraft. Georgia initially denied that any of these downings took place, but quickly changed position in the case of the April 20 shootdown, claiming that this downing had been carried out by a fighter jet belonging to the Russian Air Force. This latter fact is denied by both Abkhazia and Russia, but was confirmed by a UNOMIG fact finding mission which represented its results on May 26.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns
The same fact finding mission judged that the spy plane overflights constituted a violation of the 1994 Agreement on a Cease-fire and Separation of Forces (Moscow agreement). On June 1, in a note sent to the Russian delegation at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Georgia recognised that two other downings of its spy planes had also taken place.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, March 18 spy plane shootdown
On March 18, 2008, Abkhazia announced that around noon it had shot down an unmanned Georgian reconnaissance aircraft over the border between Ochamchira and Gali districts, near the village of Primorskoe. It said that the spy plane had subsequently crashed into sea. On the same day, the Georgian Ministry of Defence denied that the incident had taken place, although it admitted to possessing unmanned reconnaissance planes. Abkhazia reported to have recovered wreckage from the sea, stating that the spy plane had been produced by Israeli manufacturer Elbit Systems, with serial number 551. Abkhazian Deputy Minister of Defence Gari Kupalba claimed that the downed spy plane had been performing reconnaissance flights over Abkhazia since the summer of 2007.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, March 18 spy plane shootdown
On March 20, the Abkhazian Parliament passed a resolution in which it declared that recent Georgian actions, amongst which the violating of Abkhazian airspace through reconnaissance flights, indicated that it was preparing for another war.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Initial reports
On April 20, Abkhazia reported that around 10 am of that day, it had shot down another spy plane over the village of Gagida in Gali district. Georgian television station Mze TV reported that this had been confirmed by Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Iakobashvili, while Georgian agency InterPressNews reported that an eyewitness had seen how an unmanned aeroplane flew over the coastline near the village of Primorskoe, followed by a jet, which then shot down the unmanned plane.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Initial reports
Still, that day the Georgian Ministry of Defence initially denied that its spy plane had been shot down, stating that it was not conducting any flights over Abkhazia, and that Abkhazian reports were misinformation. In an interview to Mze TV, State Minister for Reintegration Iakobashvili stated that Abkhazia did not possess the technical capability for shooting down unmanned aircraft.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Initial reports
According to Iakobashvili there was information that an incident involving an explosion had taken place in the Gali district, and he confirmed that eyewitnesses had seen aircraft, but since Georgia could not send people to the site, it was impossible to determine what had happened. He denounced what had taken place as further attempts to stage a military provocation.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Initial reports
On April 21, Abkhazian Deputy Minister of Defence Kupalba announced that debris of the downed spy plane had been recovered and that the spy plane had been produced by Elbit Systems and that it had been of a similar type as the one shot down March 18. The wreckage was later shown on Russian TV.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Georgian reactions
Later on April 21, Georgia retracted its previous denial that a spy plane had been downed. Instead, Georgian Colonel David Nairashvili declared towards press agency Reuters that its spy plane had been downed by a Russian MIG-29 fighter jet. As evidence he presented footage which he claimed had been recorded and transmitted by a camera mounted on the spy plane. The footage showed how a jet aircraft fires a missile in the direction of the camera, after which the screen goes blank. According to Reuters, no identification markings are visible on the jet aircraft. Colonel Nairashvili further stated that according to Georgia's radar records, the MIG-29 had taken off from a base in Abkhazia and had passed into Russia after shooting down the Georgian spy plane.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Georgian reactions
In a declaration, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said that the video footage constituted incontrovertible evidence that the spy plane had been shot down by a Russian MIG-29 fighter jet and that the downing constituted “unprovoked aggression against the sovereign territory of Georgia”, labelling it “an unfriendly move”.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Georgian reactions
On April 22, President Saakashvili confirmed that Georgia had bought around 40 spy planes from Israel.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Georgian reactions
On May 4, the Georgian Ministry of Defence said a group of experts from the Baltic states and the United States had completed an investigation into the circumstances of the April 20 spy plane shootdown, would release a report “in the nearest future” and that furthermore, another international group of experts would conduct a separate probe.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Georgian reactions
On May 12, speaking at a joint press briefing with visiting five EU foreign ministers in Tbilisi, Georgian president Saakashvili said:


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Georgian reactions
“I want to say that recent actions by the Russian Federation are source of concern. We urge the European Union to formally investigate [...] incident involving incursion of the Russian jet into the Georgian airspace, which conducted military action”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
In response to Georgian accusations, Russia denied that its fighter jet had downed the Georgian spy plane, declaring that as April 20 had been a Sunday, its pilots had enjoyed a rest day and that consequently none of its jets had taken off.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
On April 21, a phone conversation took place between Georgian President Saakashvili and Russian President Vladimir Putin, lasting about 40 minutes, which was described by Saakashvili as "not easy". In the conversation, Saakashvili demanded that Russia should “stop attacks on Georgia”. According to the Kremlin press office, Putin expressed bewilderment that Georgia should conduct flights with military purposes over the Abkhazian conflict zone. Putin also stressed that overflights in the conflict zone contradict the purpose and spirit of the 1994 Moscow agreement on ceasefire and separation of forces and represent a destabilising factor, leading to escalation of tensions.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
Later that day, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Georgia's spy plane had been shot down by Abkhazian air defence forces. It also reiterated that the conducting of flights over the conflict zone constituted a violation of the ceasefire treaty.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
“This flight of a spy plane, which can also be used for fire correction, is a violation of not only the 1994 Moscow agreement on ceasefire and separation of forces, but also the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. The Moscow agreement clearly reads that there should be no armed forces in the security zone, while the latest resolution of the UN Security Council, which was adopted on April 15, reads that the sides should provide that no unauthorized military activities be carried out in the security zone and the zone of restricted armament.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that the debris of the downed spy plane revealed that it had been a Hermes 450 type unmanned aerial vehicles produced by the Israeli firm Elbit Systems, with serial number 553, and that the spy plane downed March 18 had serial number 551.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
Russia's ambassador to Georgia Vyacheslav Kovalenko said on April 23 that:


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
“This drone was downed by the Abkhaz air defense forces. Therefore, any talk or insinuation that the plane was downed by a Russian jet is absolutely groundless.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
In a statement on April 29, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed on that the video footage showing a fighter jet downing a Georgian spy plane had been fabricated.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
“[The video footage] does not warrant trust and raises many question marks. Experts, firstly, have noted a strange manoeuvre by the pilot of the fighter jet, who seems to have deliberately made his aircraft seen by flying beneath the drone prior to the attack.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
The Ministry also said that according to experts, the missile fired by the fighter jet was launched from a pylon attached to the edge of the wing of the airplane, but


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
“MIG-29 fighter jets in the possession of the Russian air force do not have their pylons attached to the edges of the wings.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
It also claimed that white smoke trails such as seen behind the missile on the footage usually occur from land-to-air missile launches, and never with air-to-air missiles.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
“This is not a full list of inconsistencies in the obviously edited video footage. [ The footage does not give] a clear picture of when and where the video was recorded. If watched carefully, one can clearly see two roads parallel to the shoreline,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “But there aren't such roads in the indicated area of Abkhazia’s coast. Abkhazia's famous sand beaches - 100 meters in width - are not seen in the footage, even though they can be seen by satellite.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
The Russian Foreign Ministry reiterated its position that Georgia's spy plane had been shot down by an L-39 aircraft of the Abkhazian air force and that the spy plane's presence over the conflict zone constituted a violation of the 1994 Moscow agreement on ceasefire and separation of forces.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
On May 31, French newspaper Le Monde published an interview with Russian President Putin. In it, he said:


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Russian reactions
Much is spoken now about downing of several Georgian unmanned aerial vehicles over Abkhazia. But why is not anyone saying anything about the fact, that existing agreements prohibit flights over this conflict territory? What are these flights? It's reconnaissance. And why do you conduct reconnaissance? To support military actions. Does that mean one of the sides is preparing to spill blood? Do we want that? No one wants that.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, American reactions
In a statement on April 23 the United States Department of State tentatively supported the Georgian version of events:


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, American reactions
“We reiterate our unwavering support for Georgian sovereignty and territorial integrity and are concerned by the presence of a MiG-29 aircraft in Georgian airspace without Georgian authorization, and by the use of weapons from this aircraft in shooting down an unarmed Georgian UAV.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, American reactions
On May 6, the United States for the first time directly accused Russia of being behind the April 20 shootdown when White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said at a press briefing that the April 20 shootdown constituted a provocative step on the part of Russia.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Other reactions
On April 30, during the OSCE session in Vienna, the OSCE's Forum for Security Co-operation discussed the April 20 spy plane shootdown. The Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb said that


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Other reactions
“The latest events, including [...] the shooting down of a Georgian unmanned aerial vehicle over Abkhazia, Georgia, on 20 April, [...] have considerably increased tension in the region. [ ...] I welcome the proposal for a UN-led joint fact-finding group to investigate the incident. The OSCE fully supports UNOMIG's efforts.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Other reactions
On May 12, Foreign Minister of Canada Maxime Bernier said that his country was following developments in Georgia with “great concern”:


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, April 20 spy plane shootdown, Other reactions
“Recent events, such as the downing of a reconnaissance drone [...] have raised tensions and made a difficult situation worse.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns
On May 4, both Abkhazian and Russian authorities claimed that Abkhazian air defence had shot down two more Georgian spy planes that day. According to Abkhazia, both spy planes had been shot down over the Gali district, the first at 4:06 pm local time over the village of Dikhazurga and the second at 4:51 pm local time over the village of Bargebi. The Abkhazian Ministry of Defence later also reported to have shown debris of both downed spy planes to local journalists.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, Russian reactions
According to a statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two Georgian spy planes had been conducting “unauthorized flights” over Abkhazia, describing the fact that the Abkhazians would shoot them down as “natural”. Furthermore, according to the Ministry, the latest incidents demonstrated that Tbilisi had “ignored our warnings” about the danger of violating the provisions of the 1994 Moscow agreement on ceasefire and separation of forces.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, Russian reactions
“Resorting to adventures with unmanned reconnaissance planes and speeding up military preparations in the conflict zone, the authorities in Tbilisi have taken the path of deliberately escalating tension in the region.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, Georgian reactions
Georgian authorities denied that any of its spy planes had been shot down. Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, Georgian reactions
“the information is yet another Russian provocation aimed at information-propagandistic support of Russia’s military intervention.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, Georgian reactions
The Ministry further denounced the fact that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had described the alleged shootdowns as “natural”:


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, Georgian reactions
“This indicates clearly that the Russian Federation’s so-called peacekeeping operation, carried out under cover of the CIS, has in fact turned into fiction and now represents nothing more than open military aggression against Georgia with the aim of annexing part of our territory.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, Georgian reactions
The Ministry added that Georgian spy planes would not stop flying over Abkhazia:


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, Georgian reactions
“[They] were flying, are flying and will continue flying over sovereign Georgian airspace to gather full information about the Russian military intervention.”


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, Georgian reactions
On May 5 the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified Russia that it withdrew from its air defence cooperation treaty with Russia, originally signed in 1995.


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, May 5 spy plane overflight
On May 5, Abkhazian authorities claimed that early on that day they had again observed a Georgian spy plane fly over its territory, but that it had deliberately not been shot down. According to Abkhazian Minister of Defence, Merab Kishmaria:


2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns, May 4 spy plane shootdowns, May 5 spy plane overflight
“Despite the fact that we shot down two drones yesterday, today our radars observed again a spy plane over the Ochamchira district, which came from the direction of Georgia. At this time we did not shoot it down.”