20:00, 6 July 2009

Georgian opposition demands release of all political prisoners

Georgian opposition at the Rustaveli ave. Photo of "Caucasian Knot"

On July 6, oppositionist Zahariya Kutsnashvili, representing the organization named "Law for People" and acting on behalf of the initiative group, made public the list of political prisoners of Georgia and addressed the US administration and leaders of other countries with a request to influence the Georgian government and urge it to release all the political prisoners by the arrival to Georgia of US Vice-President Joe Biden, scheduled on July 20-24.

Mr Kutsnashvili said that before the start of opposition's actions on April 9, Georgia had 30 political prisoners; now it has 119 of them. According to his story, all these people were put in prison for various criminal or administrative offences, but the real reason is their political persecution.

He has explained that the list of political prisoners was compiled on the basis of information received from human rights activists, convicts' advocates and family members. According to his story, the two persons detained during protest actions on November 7, 2007, are still behind bars.

Author: Alena Aleschenko

Source: CK correspondent