Five detained in Gldani following clash at polling station
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Five individuals have been detained for disobedience to the police and hooliganism following a clash at a polling station in Gldani district of Tbilisi earlier today, Patrol Police Head Vazha Siradze has stated.
Siradze said that no shooting took place during the incident as some journalists had reported.
The ruling Georgian Dream party leaders say that Irakli Edzgveradze, ‘a man with a criminal mentality who is a close ally of the opposition candidate in Gldani Nika Melia,’ is among the detainees.
Melia gathered criminals to stage provocations in Gldani,” said Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, who is also a leader of the ruling party.
Melia says that the ruling party stands behind the incident.
Clashes have taken place between the ruling Georgian Dream and opposition United National Movement party supporters in Gldani constituency in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi periodically throughout the afternoon.
The joint observation mission, composed of the International Organization for Democracy, Media and Cultural Exchange, its international observers, and the Center for Development, says the voting process is taking place in a mostly calm and organized environment, although minor procedural irregularities have been reported.
Georgian law enforcers have launched investigations into six election-related violations which have taken place earlier today in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and in the southern Marneuli municipality. The MIA reports that opposition political party United National Movement supporter Zviad Kuprava was physically assaulted by several individuals at the #40 polling station in the Didi Digomi District of Tbilisi.
US Ambassador Kelly Degnan to Georgia addressed Georgians earlier today on election day, noting “these parliamentary elections are very important for Georgia, and the most important thing is to have a calm atmosphere and free elections for the people.”
In total 1,607,530 Georgian voters have cast their ballots in the Georgian parliamentary elections across the country by 17 p.m., the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia has announced. Voter turnout now stands at 45.77 per cent.
Opposition parties in Georgia claim that the ruling Georgian Dream party has lost the parliamentary elections. Giga Bokeria of the European Georgia said one hour before the end of the elections that 'according to all our data the Ivanishvili regime has been defeated'.
The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs has started an investigation into nine incidents that were observed during the parliamentary elections today, announced Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Kakha Sabanadze. He said that in total 10 individuals were arrested in relation to seven cases of administrative violations.
Local NGO Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) says the analysis of 170 election-related violations and 46 complaints ‘makes it clear that the Georgian parliamentary elections were a step back compared with the 2016 parliamentary elections’.
One person has been detained for assaulting a journalist of Publika media outlet during the parliamentary elections on October 31. The person broke the phone of Publika journalist Mindia Gabadze while filming his aggressive behaviour outside the polling station No. 79 in Gldani constituency in Tbilisi.
Ruling party member Beka Davituliani stated that whoever is behind the burning of Melia’s office ‘will definitely be held strictly accountable.’ "The investigation will reveal who stands behind this", he said.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has identified the individual who damaged the office of the United National Movement opposition party in Batumi on November 15, Deputy Interior Minister Kakha Sabanadze stated earlier today.