Five of 10 detained at parliament released before trial
10 individuals were detained at parliament late yesterday. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Five of 10 individuals detained at parliament late yesterday have been released before a trial on January 6, while the trial of remaining five has been postponed.
Beka Kokaia, Zuka Berdzenishvili, Lasha Burduli, Zurab Mzhavanadze and Giorgi Mumladze are those released today.
Members of the opposition and civic groups were detained for disobedience to police as they tried not to allow the Tbilisi City Hall employees remove tents from the parliament territory and place New Year attractions instead.
Rallies in Tbilisi were sparked and tents were opened at the legislative body after parliament rejected the ruling party-proposed election bill in mid-November.
The bill would have allowed for the early transition to a fully proportional system starting from 2020 instead of the scheduled 2024.
The opposition and civic activists are accusing the government of “deliberately rejecting” the bill.
Ten individuals, mostly civic activists, have been detained at parliament in Tbilisi late yesterday for disobedience to the police and hooliganism as police removed tents from the scene and set up New Year's attractions for children. A member of the civic movement Shame Giga Makarashvili says that Zuka Berdzenishvili, Beka Kokaia, Beka Basilaia and Romeo Parulava are among the detainees.
Leader of the European Georgia opposition party Giga Bokeria has been summoned for interrogation by the Prosecutor’s Office for alleged abuse of authority while serving as secretary of the National Security Council under the United National Movement leadership. The Prosecutor’s Office says they have questions on various agreements made by the National Security Council under Bokeria.
About 30 opposition parties, who have offered the transfer to ‘an adapted version of the German electoral model’ for the 2020 parliamentary elections, say they will register the bill in parliament in the coming days and are requesting Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria send the bill to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) for evaluations.
About 30 opposition parties, including the parliamentary opposition, have presented an ‘adapted version’ of the German electoral model for Georgia’s 2020 parliamentary elections amid protests in Tbilisi sparked by the rejection of the ruling party proposed bill which offered an early transition to a fully proportional electoral system starting 2020 instead of 2024.
Confrontation has erupted between police and the members of Shecvale (change) youth movement in front of the Georgian parliament building, in central Tbilisi, earlier today.