Georgian PM pays tribute to April 9, 1989 victims on 35th anniversary

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the April 9, 1989 violent dispersal of a peaceful protest by Soviet forces in Tbilisi that killed 21 individuals and injured hundreds.

Kobakhidze visited the April 9 memorial outside the Parliament building in the capital to mark the 35th anniversary of the event, placing a wreath in honour of the victims, the Government Administration said.

The PM was joined by Mayor Kakha Kaladze and Government officials, with Shio Mujiri, the Locum Tenens of the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, leading a service. 

The date marks the event where Kremlin-directed military dispersed a demonstration demanding independence for the country, with many of those killed aged between 16 and 31.

The date also marks the restoration of Georgia’s independence, as the declaration of independence was passed on the same date two years later, based on the results of a referendum on March 31, where an overwhelming majority of people voted for the country to secede from the Soviet Union.