Demonstrations start in central Tbilisi, Interior Minister given time to resign
Demonstrations are being held at two locations in Tbilisi for now. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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People started gathering on Rustaveli Avenue at 7 p.m. today, after a rally was held and dispersed at the same place in front of the parliament yesterday.
The opposition has put forward three demands, which include the resignation of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia, the release of people detained yesterday and holding of snap parliamentary elections with proportional electoral system.
“We give three hours to Gakharia to resign,” the opposition say.
Many demonstrators have negatively reacted to the speeches of opposition leaders, stating that they came to protect the state interests and not to stand by any opposition force.
Students urged political parties not to join their demonstration. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Demonstrators said they are protesting the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament and the “dispersal of peaceful protesters” by police following the developments in the Georgian parliament.
Students are holding a separate rally at another location in Tbilisi, on Chavchavadze Avenue, in front of the first building of Tbilisi State University.
We urge politicians not to come here and try to stage provocations,” several of the students stated in their address, saying that they are protesting against Russia and allowing Russian MPs in the country, as well as the dispersal of the rally yesterday.
Students are also demanding Gakharia to resign, as “young people were shot with rubber bullets and were insulted” during the rally.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze resigned earlier today, as well as the MP who organised the international assembly in Georgia with the participation of Russian MPs.
The Georgian Dream ruling party stated that the resignations took place as the public protest was fair and the current government is accountable to its people.
Amnesty International calls for an immediate, thorough and independent investigation into the use of force during June 20 Tbilisi protests. Amnesty International’s Senior Campaigner for South Caucasus Levan Asatiani, who was on the scene in Tbilisi, said that ‘the police fired rubber bullets indiscriminately into the crowd.’
Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia says that “destructive opposition forces,” which managed to transform the Georgian people’s “fair and sincere protest” into violence, fled the scene when unrest erupted and abandoned demonstrators.
The Georgian Patriarchate says the government made a mistake which made people rally in central Tbilisi yesterday and that the opposition has been making ‘incorrect calls’ which gave rise to tensions during the demonstration.
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović has called on "all sides" of the clashes in Tbilisi to "resolve any controversies through peaceful dialogue" after the confrontation left 240 individuals injured on Thursday night.
Georgia’s ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili responded to the June 20 developments in front of the parliament building in central Tbilisi, saying “the government has made a severe mistake, to which it admitted, but was late with its political response.”
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili spoke with foreign diplomats about the June 20 protest and expressed her readiness to meet every political force that rejects the “destructive calls”. “We have no option but unification, reconciliation and following our European path”, she stated.
Russian officials on Friday called for boycott of tourism and trade relations with Georgia following what President Putin's administration called a "Russophobic provocation" in Tbilisi clashes the previous day.
The official Kremlin response decried the events as a "dangerous display", while the State Duma's Tourism Committee head called for boycott of Georgian tourist resorts and trade goods, among reactions.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani have held a meeting with foreign ambassadors this evening. The foreign diplomats have urged political parties to rule out violence.