63 people were arrested at the rally held overnight on Rustaveli Avenue, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, announced at a briefing.
“The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested 63 people under Articles 166 and 173 for petty hooliganism and disobedience to the legal demands of the police at the rally on Rustaveli Avenue,” he said.
“I would like to emphasize that the organizers and participants of the rally had the opportunity to express their protest in a peaceful situation throughout the day, however, at the end of the day, at around 21:00, after the plenary session came to an end, the participants of the rally blocked the entrances to the legislative body, which was manifested in that political leaders and participants of the rally occupied the building exits on Chitadze and Chichinadze streets.
“They artificially blocked the exits and said that they would not allow members of parliament to leave the legislative body building.
“In accordance with the Law of Georgia ‘On Assemblies and Manifestations,’ it is forbidden to block the entrances of administrative buildings and disrupt their activities. Despite numerous calls made by the police, as well as the statements issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not to block the administrative building and to continue protesting within the limits established by law, the organizers of the rally did not obey the instructions of the law enforcement officers and continued to intentionally block the entrances. Taking into account the situation, the police secured the Parliament building exit and placed a police cordon on the site so that members of the parliament and employees had the opportunity to move safely.
“In order to restore public order and de-escalate the situation, after a proper warning, at approximately 10:15 p.m., the police consistently started using equipment means established by the Law of Georgia ‘On Police,’ in particular, pepper spray, tear gas and water cannon,” he stated.
However, it is clear that the police used inappropriate force against the rally-goers. Police employees used special means, including water jets and tear gas.
The situation at the demonstration against the Russian law became tense by 11:15 p.m. Police resumed arresting citizens on Chitadze Street.
As one of the policemen announced on the air of TV Pirveli , citizens were throwing bottles at them, although the footage showed that the policemen were also throwing plastic bottles in the direction of the citizens.
After that, the employees of the Special Tasks Department moved to the foreground and after pepper spray and tear gas was used. This was not preceded by a warning.
As a result, the participants of the rally had to leave Chitadze Street, however, tear gas was also fired in the direction of Rustaveli Avenue, due to which the citizens had to leave the area.
Image: Netgazeti
