On January 15, hundreds of Georgian companies suspended work in an unprecedented three-hour nationwide strike. While the majority of strikes were peaceful, an incident occurred on Dolidze Street, Tbilisi, seeing protesters were attacked by a group of thugs, who physically and verbally assaulted the striking protesters. As it turned out, some of the attackers were public servants, including Tbilisi City Hall employees.
After analyzing the footage, it was determined that the following were present on Dolidze Street: Tbilisi City Hall employee Tengiz Popkhadze, Tbilisi City Hall employee Luka Berbichashvili, and Tbilisi City Hall employee Gia Zakaraia.
Popkhadze was one of the first to approach the striking citizens and verbally insult them, after which a confrontation began on the spot – with claims that he was particularly aggressive.
An investigation into the incident has been initiated under Article 126 of the Criminal Code, which refers to violence.
