Witnesses say police used disproportionate force to detain Namakhvani protester
The Interior Ministry said police fired warning shots ‘to de-escalate the situation and defuse the confrontation’. Photo: IPN
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Police detained Irakli Mukbaniani, a protester against the construction of the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) using disproportionate force, witnesses say.
Mukbaniani was detained in the village of Sakulia in western Georgian region of Imereti for assaulting a police officer during a demonstration in another village a couple of days ago.
Besik Mukbaniani told journalists following his brother’s detention that several civilians have been injured during the police operation.
Police used disproportionate force… There was no need to bring the special tasks groups into the village”, Besik Mukbaniani said.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has also reported about Mukbaniani’s detention 'upon the court decision' earlier today.
It said that on May 29 Mukbaniani ‘attacked and physically assaulted a police officer’ during a protest rally against the construction of Namakhvani HPP in Gumati.
During the arrest of I.M., local residents showed resistance against the police officers after which the police used coercive measures in accordance with the law”, the ministry said.
It later provided additional information about the special operation in a separate statement ‘due to the high public interest’, saying that locals had restricted the movement, attempted to release the detainee and to seize the police weapon.
At the same time, locals threw stones and other objects at police officers, as a result of which two officers received health injuries”, the statement reads.
It further says that police fired warning shots ‘to de-escalate the situation and defuse the confrontation’.
Varlam Goletiani, the leader of Rioni Gorge Defenders civic movement says Mukbaniani’s detention is a provocation staged by the state officials .
Eight individuals have been released following their detention during clashes with police over the construction of the Namakhvani HPP in western Georgia. Namakhvani HPP protesters, who returned from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to Rioni gorge on May 26, were holding a demonstration at the iron wall in Gumati village since then.
Eight individuals protesting against the construction of the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) in western Georgia have been detained after a clash between protesters and police in the village of Gumati last night, announces the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.
Two individuals have allegedly been detained as police and protesters of Namakhvani hydro power plant construction clashed in Rioni Gorge, Varlam Goletiani, the leader of Rioni Gorge Defenders’ civic movement said.
Protesters against the construction of the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) in western Georgia have stopped their protest rally in the capital city of Tbilisi and say that they will continue the fight directly at the construction site of Namakhvani HPP.
Four major economic studies have been published by the Georgian Ministry of Economy which attest to the financial and economic viability of the Namakhvani HPP planned in western Georgia. The release of the reports comes following large protests against the construction of the power plant.
Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava has announced that mediation on the construction of the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) that is planned to be built in western Georgia will be held in the coming days under the leadership of the European Union.
Georgian authorities are negotiating with Enka, the Turkish contractor company for the contested Namakhvani hydro power plant in western Georgia, to improve the terms of the existing contract, including the unconditional transfer of land, water and other natural resources on a 99-year lease to Enka.
What have the gov’t, civil society, EU Energy Union agreed to?
Civil society and the government of Georgia have held the first meeting of negotiations concerning the disputed Namakhvani hydro power project on the Rioni river in western Georgia. The meeting was mediated by the EU Energy Union Dispute Resolution and Negotiation Center.
Police have dismantled iron barricades erected during protests against the Namakhvani HPP in the Rioni Gorge in western Georgia, in the village of Gumati.