PM visits police officer injured in Marneuli clash at Tbilisi hospital

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili thanked the country’s police for "preventing a very serious, well-planned provocation” yesterday during the Parliamentary Elections.

The leader of the country visited injured police officer, Deputy Chief of Kvemo Kartli regional police Ramin Ismailov at Tbilisi's Ingorokva Hospital. He was injured in a clash in Marneuli about 6pm last night - two hours before voting officially closed in Georgia.

We intentionally refrained from using rough force there [in Marneuli] to keep the election environment at high European standards and I think we managed to achieve this principal goal. This was possible thanks to the heroism of the people like Ramin Ismailov,” underscored PM Kvirikashvili while speaking with local media.

Earlier in the evening the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs said supporters of opposition United National Movement party (UNM) and election bloc Paata Burchuladze - State for People attacked #48 polling station in Kizilajlo Village, which is mainly populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis.

Police said the group were "very violent" and they threw stones at the polling station, shattering several windows. The Ministry said the hooligans intended to steal the ballot box.

Crowds of young men were heard shouting ‘Misha’, the name of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili who was the founder and leader of UNM.

Police entered the building to defend the ballot box however the attackers threw stones at the law enforcers.

The Interior Ministry said several police officers, including the Chief of Marneuli Police, were injured in the attack.