Dozens of journalists reported among injured on Rustaveli Ave
Protesters have continuously clashed with police outside the parliament building in Tbilisi throughout the night. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The Georgian media reported that the number of journalists, cameramen and photographers representing a number of local news organisations is increasing after the recent clash in central Tbilisi.
Representatives of InterPressNews, On.ge, Netgazeti, OC Media, Civil.ge, Rustavi 2, 1TV and TV Pirveli have been reportedly injured by the rubber bullets that police used in front of the parliament of Georgia to disperse the rally.
Police Special Forces marched on the Rustaveli Avenue where the demonstrators had gathered to protest June 20 incident in the parliament of Georgia after a Russian State Duma MP Sergei Gavrilov took the seat of the Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze to address the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy.
The Healthcare Ministry has reported that 17 civilians and 38 police officers have been injured after in a late night clash in front of the parliament of Georgia as law enforcers used tear gas and rubber bullets to prevent the protesters from entering the building. The protesters were leaving the demonstration after the clash but soon they returned and continued rallying.
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has called for "calm" amid unrest in Tbilisi as protesting crowds have been dispersed by police using tear gas in front of the parliament building.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has released a statement calling the demonstrators to “immediately stop violence" in front of the parliament of Georgia and “leave the territory”. The announcement followed soon after the Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia went to the parliament, calling on the protesters to obey the police.
Police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse rally on Rusteveli Avenue. Police Special Forces have marched on the Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi where the demonstrators had gathered to protest June 20 incident in the parliament of Georgia.
International media outlets have responded to the June 20 developments in Tbilisi where people held a protest rally during the visit of Russian MPs to Tbilisi. The BBC reports that Georgian opposition MPs called for protests in response to Russian MP Gavrilov’s decision to deliver a speech from the parliamentary speaker's seat.
Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov, whose address in the Georgian parliament sparked demonstrations in Tbilisi yesterday, says that the unrest was beforehand planned “by radical Georgian opposition forces,” who used the presence of Russian MPs in the parliament building as a reason to start anti-government rallies.
The United National Movement opposition party says that a demonstration on Rustaveli Avenue will be held at 7 p.m. today as the current Georgian Dream state leadership “has turned into a regime,” and the Georgian people “no longer want their leadership.” The opposition has three demands regarding top officials and elections.
240 individuals were hospitalised after yesterday’s rally in Tbilisi, many of them with minor injuries, 80 were law enforcers, Deputy Health Minister Zaza Bokhua stated earlier today while visiting patients at the Ingorokva Clinic in Tbilisi.
Human Rights Watch has reacted to the June 20 demonstration in Tbilisi, triggered by the presence of Russian MPs in Georgia, and urged the Georgian government to investigate the use of force during the rally which left 240 injured.
Zakaria Kutsnashvili, the organiser of the 26th Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, which led to large-scale public protests last night has resigned as MP. He has thanked those who voted for him earlier and offered his apologies as well.
The Georgian Ministry of Health has denied death of one person who got injured on June 20 when Georgian police dispersed protest rally on Rustaveli Ave. Russian media outlets, namely Euronews Russia, Lenta.ru, REN.TV and others have reported that one of the protestors, injured in eye, died in a hospital.
Mako Gomuri, 18, who lost her eye during the June 20 Tbilisi protests, will be provided with medical treatment abroad, Georgian government official Sozar Subari said. He stated the Georgian government will do its best for all the injured to recover.