Parliament Speaker condemns violence, says Gov’t responsible to respond appropriately
He criticised the opposition for not recognising the aggressors from their side, citing March rallies in Tbilisi over the controversial foreign influence transparency bill, when some of the protesters had attacked the Parliament building, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police officers. Photo via Parliament of Georgia
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Sunday said the violence was unacceptable and had to be punished, noting the Government’s liability was to ensure an appropriate response to a crime and the opposition’s “responsibility” to “at least” condemn it verbally.
Papuashvili made this comment on a confrontation between supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream and the opposition United National Movement parties in Georgia’s town of Kaspi that had taken place on Friday during the UNM Chair Levan Khabeishvili’s meeting with locals.
The Parliament official said the country’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili had also “strongly” condemned the violence, and noted the law enforcement’s “reaction to every violence” was visible, as everyone involved in violent crimes was being arrested and police worked “equally in all cases”.
He criticised the opposition for not recognising the aggressors from their side, citing March rallies in Tbilisi over the controversial foreign influence transparency bill, when some of the protesters had attacked the Parliament building, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police officers.
Papuashvili stressed that a crime would always be responded to with punishment.
The Georgian Interior Ministry on Friday said it was investigating a clash between supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream and the opposition United National Movement parties in Georgia’s town of Kaspi.
The Georgian Interior Ministry on Friday said 58 law enforcement officers had received “various injuries” while ensuring safety during the rallies in central Tbilisi on Tuesday and Wednesday that protested the Parliament’s discussion of the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday claimed domestic “anarchist organisations” who he said had been affiliated with the “radical” United National Movement opposition had “used” and “made” the youth throw Molotov cocktails at police during March rallies in Tbilisi over the controversial foreign influence transparency bill.
Tbilisi City Court on Saturday sent one individual to imprisonment for assault on one of the Formula TV founders Misha Mshvildadze in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi on Tuesday.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday highlighted the Georgian Government’s “principled” stance that the country’s territorial integrity must be restored “only in a peaceful way”.
Georgia’s Special Investigation Service on Friday said it had arrested one individual for an assault on a Formula TV channel cameraman earlier this month in the eastern Kakheti region.