Five thousand come to rally against curfew in Georgia

The curfew is inefficient as a measure against coronavirus spread; and the fines imposed for appearing in the street at night are excessively high, the rally outside the Georgian Parliament has stated.

According to the "Sirtskhvili" (Shame) public movement, about 5000 people gathered in front of the Georgian Parliament to protest against the curfew. Prior to the rally, activists of the above movement tried to set up a stage in front of the building, but the police interfered with this. At 7:00 p.m., a column of protesters started off from the Philharmonic to the Parliament, blocking traffic in Rustaveli Avenue. After 45 minutes, a stage was set up, and the presenter Shota Digmelashvili announced that the rally would be held in the format of an electronic music disco.

The protesters expressed their outrage over the fact that the curfew has been in effect in Georgia for five months. "This is funny; it has not happened anywhere in the world. It violates citizens' rights. Besides, the fines for violating the curfew are simply ridiculous: 200 GEL is six times the salary of a store seller. This is just terror unleashed by the state against its people," Lasha Chkhartishvili, one of the protesters and the chairman of the Human Rights Council, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 3, 2021 at 11:04 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.