07:00, 30 June 2009

Parliament of Georgia wants to ban "opposition calls" on roads

The parliament of Georgia plans to officially forbid any use of special structures for blocking roads in the course of protest actions. Currently, the respective amendments are prepared to the Law "On Assemblies and Manifestations".

"The Law said that no premeditated road blocking should be allowed; we now clarify this provision and say that a road can be blocked only if a rally or manifestation cannot be held otherwise. That is, blocking a road should not be an aim in itself. We also specify that no special structures shall be used for road blocking," the "GHN" Agency quotes Pavel Kublashvili, chairman of the parliamentary legal committee.

Besides, a ban will be corrected on holding rallies closer than 20 meters from administrative buildings. After making amendments, the ban will concern only road blocking at specified distances; however, protest actions along building perimeters will be allowed.

Mr Kublashvili could not tell the "Trend" Agency when the approval of these amendments can be expected.