Tbilisi: rallies in support of Ukraine end in detentions

Several people were detained at rallies in support of Ukraine held in Tbilisi for opposing law enforcers, and for a poster with obscene language against the Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Irakli Garibashvili, the Georgian Premier, said that his country would not join the West's sanctions against Russia in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. According to economists, the refusal to support sanctions is due to the fact that in this case Georgia will lose the Russian market and will not be able to find an alternative thereto within a year.

On February 25, in Tbilisi, thousands of people gathered for a rally in support of Ukraine near the building of the Georgian government administration. Its participants condemned the Premier's refusal to join the anti-Russian sanctions adopted in Europe. They treated Garibashvili's actions as a refusal to support Ukraine and demanded his resignation.

"Ukrainian people are our brothers; they have always supported us, especially during the 2008 crisis," one of the protesters told the "Rustavi-2" TV Company.

Members of the "Girchi-More Freedom" Party clashed with policemen and were detained. Badri Grigalashvili, an activist, who was holding a poster with an obscene inscription addressed to Garibashvili, was also detained together with another activist.