Police release 15 protesters arrested at Batumi demonstration against Russian-organised sea cruise
The protest followed the entry of the cruise ship Astoria Grande, which carried Russian citizens in a cruise organised by a Russian channel, in port of Batumi on Thursday. The demonstrations protested against the arrival of the vessel on the backdrop of Moscow’s ingoing aggression against Ukraine and occupation of two of Georgia’s regions. Photo: RFE/RL
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Batumi City Court on Tuesday ruled to release 15 individuals from a group arrested for disobeying police at a protest against the arrival of a Russian-organised cruise in Georgia's Black Sea city of Batumi on Thursday.
The Court reviewed 15 cases out of 23 on the arrests made during the protest, before the protesters were released from detention.
The individuals arrested in the event accused law enforcement of using excessive force during the arrests, with the Special Investigation Service on Wednesday announcing an investigation into the claims.
The body said its inquiry was launched following a report from the Public Defender’s Office and the individuals in question, who alleged police officers had caused injuries during the arrests.
The protest followed the entry of the cruise ship Astoria Grande, which carried Russian citizens in a cruise organised by a Russian channel, in port of Batumi on Thursday. The demonstrations protested against the arrival of the vessel on the backdrop of Moscow’s ingoing aggression against Ukraine and occupation of two of Georgia’s regions.
Georgian law enforcement arrested 23 individuals during the protest in the city.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Monday said protests against the entry of a cruise ship in the country’s Black Sea city of Batumi that carried Russian citizens in a cruise organised by a Russian channel on the backdrop of Moscow’s ingoing aggression against Ukraine were a “deliberate provocation” and “harmful” to the domestic economy.
The Georgian law enforcement on Monday arrested 19 demonstrators for disobeying police and petty hooliganism at a protest against the entry of a cruise ship in the country’s Black Sea city of Batumi that carried Russian citizens in a cruise organised by a Russian channel on the backdrop of Moscow’s ingoing aggression against Ukraine, the Public Defender's Office said.
Georgian Deputy Economy Minister Guram Guramishvili on Sunday said the cruise ship Astoria Grande, which had entered Georgia’s Batumi port on Thursday, had been sailing under the Palau flag and was not sanctioned, as part of the international sanctions imposed against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, by “any country”.
The Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia on Tuesday said the scheduled entry of Astoria Grande, a cruise ship sailing under the flag of Palau, in Batumi port in the country’s west was free from international sanctions imposed against Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday told the ongoing Qatar Economic Forum in Doha his Government’s “clear” position that airline companies sanctioned for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would not operate in Georgia.
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Monday said even though the country had not imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the country’s authorities were “making sure” its territory would not be used for circumvention of the international sanctions for the war.