Four Georgian protesters detained for putsch attempt

Four persons have been detained in Georgia within the case of organizing, heading or participating in group violence and an attempt to overthrow the state power during the action in Tbilisi at night on June 21, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 6, a court placed in custody four activists, accused of using violence during protests. The Georgian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) qualified the protests in Tbilisi as an attempt to overthrow the power (commit a putsch).

On July 15, the MIA reported the detention of four other persons within the case of group violence and an attempt to overthrow the power.

"Investigators have established that the said persons had participated in group violence; they attacked policemen by using various objects and resisted them; and they tried to break into parliament during an organized assault," ” the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent quotes the MIA's statement.

The statement also reports that after the protest in Georgia, in total, nine people have been brought to criminal responsibility under these articles, including the four activists detained earlier and Nika Meliya, a Georgian MP from the oppositional "United National Movement" (UNM) Party, the MIA has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 15, 2019 at 09:58 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.