368 km of protest: Georgian civic activist speaks out against Russian occupation
Civic activist Giga Makarashvili holds a Georgian flag en route to occupied Abkhazia. Photo: Giga Makarashvili facebook page.
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Georgian civic activist Giga Makarashvili, 33, is walking to the country’s occupied Abkhazia region to protest the Russian occupation of Georgian historic lands.
Giga Makarashvili started his route from Tbilisi on 14 September to arrive at the Enguri Bridge, near the occupation line with breakaway Abkhazia on 27 September, on the day when the central Georgian government lost control of the region 25 years ago.
I was about to enter school that year. My father was a volunteer fighter in the war. 25 years have passed and nothing has changed. Moreover, the situation in becoming more and more complicated. I, as an angry citizen of Georgia due to the illegality, decided one day to use my physical resources to speak my protest,” Makarashvili told local media.
Makarashvili has already walked more than 250 kilometers and now is in the Samegrelo region of western Georgia.
Walking in the main town of Samegrelo today, in Zugdidi, school children applauded him on the road. click the image to see the video.
It is one of the most emotional moments of my life, “ Makarashvili said in a live video as he approached the children.
Thank you so much! Do not be afraid of anything. You will achieve all your goals if you stand together and do your best,” Makarashvili told the children after the emotional meeting.
He had to walk 30 kilometers daily to cover the 368 kilometers to the Enguri bridge.
About a month ago he also walked kilometers from Tbilisi to the Karapila village of eastern Georgia to protest the Russian invasion at the occupation line between Georgia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
Read more about Georgian conflict issues here.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has appealed to anyone having information on people who went missing due to the 1992-1993 war in Abkhazia region and 2008
Russia-Georgia war to inform the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
25 Georgian heroes who lost their lives in the Abkhaz war in 1993 who have been recently identified and transported to the capital of Tbilisi were buried today. Georgia’s Prime Minister thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Abkhazian side for their support in finding and identifying the people who died in the war.
High school student from village Chvirnisi located near the occupation line of Tskhinvali has been arrested by the so called border guards.
The Russia-controlled border guards have detained a 94-year-old Georgian citizen Gora Garibashvili in the village of Sakorintlo, located in the Kaspi municipality, on the Tbilisi-administered territory.
Two Georgian citizens, who were detained near occupied Tskhinvali region for “illegally crossing the border” on March 13, have been released today. Georgian citizens are often detained near the occupation line and are usually released after paying a fine.