Georgia: policeman clash with participants of May Day action, detaining some of them

The Tbilisi police have prevented the May Day student action. As a result of a clash with law enforcers, a number of protesters were detained, said the eyewitness of the events Mariam Gachechiladze.

She named some of the detainees: "Here are those, whom I know personally: Ani Chankotadze, Mate Gabitsinashvili, Sandro Tsagareli, Levan Asabishvili, Giorgi Gabeliya, Lasha Kharazi and Levan Abashidze. I guess they detained more people," Ms Gachechiladze told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The action-manifestation "For Workers' Rights" began today at 3:00 p.m. at Block 1 of the Tbilisi State University. The student movement "Laboratory-1918" was the organizer, and other youth NGOs joined the event.

When activists passed on to Rustaveli Avenue, they could not fit on the sidewalk and went out into the roadway, thereby blocking the traffic. The police demanded that the participants return to the sidewalk; and then clashes burst out between students and policemen. After which some students were detained.

Lasha Djokhadze, the deputy chief of the patrol police, stated on air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Channel that detentions had been made, because the protesters blocked the road.

He did not specify the exact number of detainees.

People were detained without reason, says the eyewitness Vakhtang Berikashvili. "We had a peaceful manifestation. We didn't block the road; but there were so many of us that we couldn't stay within the sidewalk. Yes, we walked along the road, but we moved along it and didn't block it," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.