Georgian presidential candidate, supporters detained at cannabis rally freed

Georgian presidential candidate from Girchi party Zurab Japaridze and his supporters were released last night shortly after being detained at a cannons rally in Tbilisi.

“Thanks to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we will all sleep in our homes tonight,” the official Facebook page of Girchi wrote.

Eight individuals including Japaridze were taken into custody by police and searched.

"I was searched thoroughly. Even my shoes and socks were checked. I did not have anything… Then a long questioning followed. They wanted to know in detail how I have organised the festival, what I was going to do and what a ‘joint’ means. Finally, the questioning ended and they said the investigation will be continued,” Zura Japaridze told journalists after being released from the police building last night.

The MIA said that two detainees were found with a small amount of marijuana.  

“Fighting against the popularisation of the use of narcotics including marijuana is one of the major priorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Any attempt at the public popularisation of narcotics will be immediately prevented by law enforcement,” the MIA said in a statement today.