US Embassy in Georgia released a statement on recent arrests of peaceful demonstrators in Tbilisi.
It said the Embassy is closely monitoring the cases of those who were arrested and detained on June 2 while peacefully demonstrating in front of Parliament.
“The rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are core human rights and fundamental to democracy.
A lack of tolerance for dissent is inconsistent with the values of the Euro-Atlantic family of nations, which the majority of the people of Georgia wish to join,” reads the statement.
In the evening of June 2, several incidents took place near the Parliament, where the peaceful action organized by the “Stubborn” movement was taking place. The protestors were sitting on the stairs with posters in their hands when the police arrested them.
Against this background, representatives of non-governmental organizations joined those gathered near the parliament with posters of different contents in their hands. Soon the police started arresting them. In the footage taken on the spot, it can be seen how security forces are attacking the participants of the rally and trying to detain them.
According to the reports of non-governmental organizations, among those arrested are the chairman of Democratic Initiative of Georgia – Eduard Marikashvili, an employee of the Open Society Foundation – Saba Brachveli, activist – Nika Romanadze and others.
