The Ombudsman and the initiative group of medical workers of Georgia call for an end to violence against protesters
The Public Defender of Georgia Levan Ioseliani appealed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a demand to immediately respond to the police abuse against the protesters. In particular, the Ombudsman accuses the security forces of using brutal physical violence as punishment.
“Over the five days of protests, we visited 201 people in detention centers and hospitals. Most of them had serious injuries to the face, eyes and head. The location, nature and severity of the injuries create a convincing picture that the police are using deliberate and brutal violence against citizens for the purpose of punishment,” Ioseliani explained.
In addition, today the country will hold a “white coat rally”. At 16:00, doctors and nurses will rally in front of clinics to protest against the violation of Article 78 of the Constitution, in particular, the abuse of power by law enforcement officers. The decision was made by the initiative group of medical workers. The organizers of the action are calling for an end to harm to the health of demonstrators.
The Georgian Ministry of Health reported that over the past night, ambulances delivered 15 people to hospitals from the protest, including 11 protesters, three members of the press, and one employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In total, according to the department, 162 victims have been delivered to medical institutions since last Friday. However, human rights activists note that these are only official statistics, which do not include people who sought medical attention on their own.
Meanwhile, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed the detention of 22 people last night during the dispersal of the rally. Yesterday, it was reported that 293 people have been detained since the beginning of the protests against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on the country's accession to the European Union until 2028.
