21:49, 26 August 2025

Rustaveli Avenue Closed on 272nd Day of Protests

Protests demanding the release of political prisoners and the resumption of Georgia's course towards European integration continue in Tbilisi. After announcing protests in defense of the visa-free regime, the ruling Georgian Dream party stated that the opposition is being controlled from outside.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, on August 25, the 271st day of pro-European protests, protesters in Tbilisi blocked Rustaveli Avenue and announced protests in defense of the visa-free regime on September 13.

Since November 28, 2024, supporters of European integration have been going to Tbilisi for daily rallies near the Georgian Parliament and blocking traffic along Rustaveli Avenue, demanding the release of all arrested demonstrators and the appointment of new parliamentary elections.

Protesters in Tbilisi again blocked Rustaveli Avenue near the parliament building this evening. This is the 272nd day of continuous protests, the participants of which are demanding the release of all political prisoners and the appointment of new parliamentary elections, Publika reports.

The ruling Georgian Dream party responded to the statement of pro-European parties about a mass rally on September 13, stating that the opposition is "attacking the state" under external leadership. Georgian Dream MP David Matikashvili believes: "There is an organized conspiracy and attack on Georgia, all of this is being directed from outside and supported by the fifth column, which is connected to the current radical wing of the opposition," Pirveli TV Company quotes him as saying.

The trial of 11 demonstrators accused of violence during protests continued in the Tbilisi City Court today. The fifth president of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili attended the hearing, and the bailiffs and the judge initially refused to let her into the courtroom - they demanded that Zurabishvili provide the original ID, not a copy. Zurabishvili waited until the document was brought to her, after which she was allowed into the courtroom, Tbilisi_life reports.

The accused - actor Andro Chichinadze, stand-up comedian Onise Tskhadadze, as well as Guram Mirtskhulava, Luka Jabua, Jano Archaya, Valeri Tetreshvili, Giorgi Terishvili, Irakli Kerashvili, Revaz Kiknadze, Ruslan Sivakov and Sergei Kukharchuk - did not admit guilt. At today's hearing, lawyer Fikria Makharadze, who is defending two arrested Ukrainian citizens - Sivakov and Kukharchuk, spoke.

We've updated the apps on Android and IOS — now they work without a VPN! We would appreciate criticism, ideas for development both in Google Play/App Store and on KU pages in social networks. Without installing a VPN, you can read us in Telegram (in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia - with VPN) or use the browser Ceno to bypass blocking. Using a VPN, you can continue reading "Caucasian Knot" on the website as usual, and on social networks: Facebook*, Instagram*, "VKontakte", "Odnoklassniki" and X. You can watch the video of "Caucasian Knot" on YouTube. Send messages to WhatsApp* to the number +49 157 72317856, to Telegram - to the same number or write to the address @Caucasian_Knot.

* the activities of the Meta company (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) are prohibited in Russia.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/414878