Tbilisi: all detained activists released

The Tbilisi City Court has released until the next hearing all 14 participants in the action near the City Council building, detained for disobeying the police and disorderly conduct.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 10, about 300 activists and supporters of opposition "United National Movement" (UNM) and "European Georgia" Parties came to the Tbilisi Sakrebulo building with a demand to remove from the agenda the issue of transferring the land plots to the Ivanishvili's company. The police reported on clashes between protesters and law enforcers and detention of participants of the protest action who tried to enter the City Council building.

According to the press service of the Tbilisi City Court, 14 people were detained. All of them are released until October 17. The court hearing was postponed to ensure the prosecutors could provide additional evidence to the Court. All detainees are charged under Article 173 and Article 166 of the Administrative Code of Georgia (disobedience to the lawful demand of the police and petty hooliganism).

Soso Gugurli, one of the people released today, said he was detained because of a misunderstanding. According to him, he wanted to help a policeman who slipped to the ground. "At that moment, policemen most likely thought it was me who threw him to the ground, since I was at a distance of 1.5-2 meters from him. And I was detained right at that moment," the man stated. Soso Gugurli claimed he had been beaten during his detention.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.