Man detained for attacking foreign observers on Election Day

A Georgian man has been detained for allegedly attacking foreign observers in a late night attack on Election Day on October 8.

Today Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Shalva Khutsishvili said police detained a man who allegedly attacked foreign observers during the October 8 Parliamentary Elections. 

Khutsishvili said the detention concerned incidents in western Jikhashkari village, in Zugdidi municipality, when several locals forced their way into polling stations, damaged election inventory and physically assaulted local and international observers. 

Khutsishvili did not name the detainee but said he was identified by the foreign observer he attacked on Election Day. 

The Deputy Minister stressed his identification and detention was relatively slow as the foreign observer left Georgia after the attack but managed to return to for the second round of the Parliamentary Elections, held on October 30. 

Two other people were detained for the Jikhashkari incidents in the past month. 

On October 8 at 11pm Tbilisi time, three hours after the ballot boxes were sealed shut and voting ended in the Parliamentary Elections, several individuals threw rocks at two polling stations in Jikhashkari  village, breaking windows.

The attackers forced their way into the building before damaging inventory used during voting procedures.

The group physically attacked international and local monitors on site, causing injuries to two members of Norway's Helsinki Committee.