Georgian Interior Ministry warns of unacceptability of announced protest at entrance and exit of Tbilisi
A rally dispersal with new arrests is expected in the Georgian capital today. The country's Interior Ministry has issued a warning about the unacceptability of the announced protest with blocking roads at the entrance and exit of Tbilisi. The activists published the corresponding announcement in the Daitove Facebook group on January 30.
According to the announcement, protesters will gather at 16:00 today at the Tbilisi Mall shopping center on Agmashenebeli Alley. The demonstrators' demands are to hold new parliamentary elections and release previously detained participants in pro-European protests.
"The regime must once again feel that the protest is expanding and becoming more effective," the announcement said.
The entrance and exit of the capital is part of the Tbilisi-Senaki-Leselidze international highway. Yesterday, a day before the protest action in this area, the Georgian government urgently added roads of international importance to the list of strategic objects, the seizure and blocking of which is punishable by criminal punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 4 years. The list of strategic objects also includes the parliament, ministries, airports, railways, etc.
Earlier, the Formula TV channel reported that additional CCTV cameras were installed near the Tbilisi Mall shopping center.
Today, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs called on the organizers and participants of the rally "to refrain from illegal actions and express their protest within the framework established by law."
"Otherwise, the police will take all appropriate legal measures," the department said in a statement.
Yesterday, law enforcement officers visited the homes of a number of Georgian activists. Among others, the administrators of the aforementioned FB group Daitove were subjected to searches. One of them, Ilia Glonti, was questioned for several hours at the police station. Before that, he managed to report that the search was related to the action planned for today.
Rallies demanding new parliamentary elections have been taking place in Georgia since late October, when the official results of the vote were announced, showing the ruling party winning. The new wave of protests, which has been going on for 67 days, began after the Georgian authorities announced the suspension of the country's European integration process until 2028.
