Public Defender highlights “absolute unacceptability” of police “abusing authority” in ongoing protests

Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani on Monday highlighted “absolute unacceptability” of police “abusing its authority” in its actions during ongoing protests against the Government's decision to suspend the country's EU accession talks until 2028.

In his remarks over the matter, Ioseliani noted “impunity for misconduct” was leading to an “increasingly brutal development”.

In general, I call such cases brutality, because it is unthinkable to treat people like this, to attack them, especially journalists who are doing their job and transmitting information, which is their constitutional right. I really have no difficulty in assessing what I see, and I really have no difficulty in saying that it is absolutely unacceptable when the police abuse their authority”, the Public Defender said.

“Most importantly, such actions should be followed by specific liability. The main issue here is that when specific persons are not punished for such misconduct, it [the development] becomes increasingly brutal”, he continued.

He further noted a minor had been seen in front of riot police at a protest rally outside the Parliament in Tbilisi on Sunday,  saying “a child should be in a safe environment - where there is an epicentre of escalation and a very high risk of harm to people, presence of children there is absolutely unjustified”.

Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, the Georgian Deputy Interior Minister, on Monday said 21 law enforcement employees had sustained injuries during the protests on Sunday, with some suffering “serious” head, face, and body injuries, adding 113 officers had been injured in total throughout demonstrations over the recent days against the Government's decision.