Girchi - More Freedom leader Japaridze fined, party members detained
Japaridze said that he was fined with 200 GEL. Photo: Zurab Girchi Japaridze's Facebook page
Tweet 
Share
Girchi - More Freedom opposition party leader Zurab Girchi Japaridze has been fined, while 10 of his party members have been detained after blocking the entrances to State Security Service (SSS) buildings in six Georgian cities.
Party members blocked the SSS office entrances with their cars as a form of protest, demanding the imprisoned former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili's transfer from prison hospital to a civil clinic, as well as a fully proportional electoral system and snap elections.
Their cars eventually got removed by police.
Demands of the protest are:
— Girchi•More Freedom (@Girchi_GE) November 12, 2021
•Fully proportional system with a 2% threshold
•Snap elections
•Moving @SaakashviliM to the hospital@usingeo @eucopresident @ViolavonCramon @ALDEParty @VVDint @libertarianpol @Shamemovement @UNMGeorgia @MovementDroa @KubiliusA @CarlHartzellEU
Japaridze said that he was fined with 200 GEL for blocking the SSS entrance. He added that he could not be arrested because of his MP mandate.
Five people [who were detained] participated in the protest, they were sitting in the cars [blocking the SSS entrances]. The rest of the five people were just filming the protest with their phones... They are detained all over Georgia, some of them in Marneuli, others in Rustavi, Japaridze told the press earlier today.
Saakashvili was arrested on October 1 ahead of the 2021 local elections, and is currently serving his sentence of six years' imprisonment for abuse of power.
As for snap elections, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party was obliged by the EU-mediated April 19 agreement to hold early parliamentary elections if it received less than 43% of votes in local elections.
However, in late July the GD withdrew from the agreement – which ended months of political standoff caused by parliamentary elections in 2020 – and received 47% of the vote in the proportional part of the race.
The opposition Girchi - More Freedom party members on Friday blocked entrances of the State Security Service offices in six cities in Georgia, with police later removing the vehicles of the party leaders cars.
The opposition United National Movement (UNM) MPs Khatia Dekanoidze and Tina Bokuchava have met with Parliamentary Speaker Kakha Kuchava, asserting that if imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili is transferred to a private clinic, the UNM will be responsible for not holding rallies nearby. Following the meeting held earlier today, Bokuchava said the parliamentary speaker can play an ‘important role’ in overcoming the ‘political crisis.’
Georgian law enforcement arrested 46 individuals at rallies organized by the United National Movement (UNM) in Tbilisi earlier today, including at the buildings of the State Security Service and the Ministry of Health. The Georgian Interior Ministry says the UNM activists violated the law of assembly and demonstration, attempting to block state buildings and disobeying police officers.
Several opposition activists were detained by police at the rallies of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party earlier today, at the buildings of the Ministry of Health of Georgia and the State Security Service.
Girchi - More Freedom opposition party members have been selling coffee outside the National Bank of Georgia in USD and cryptocurrency earlier today to protest against the current financial regulations that only recognize Georgian lari (GEL) as legal tender. The party members blame the National Bank for inflation, and say that the organisation is obliged to stabilise the prices in the country.
Libertarian Girchi - More Freedom party has invited a 'witch' to 'put a hex' on the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Georgia in response to their members being arrested at protest rallies over the last few days. The party claims that police arrested its members for 'no reason,' and maintains that the 'spell' will not be removed until all detainees are released.