Georgian police disperses rally in Tbilisi

Today, the Georgian police have dispersed a rally of the youth political movement named "November 7", whose members tried to block traffic in Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

About three hundred adherents of "November 7" decided to hold a protest rally in front of the building of the Parliament of Georgia and demand resignation of Vano Merabishvili, Interior Minister, and punishments of those guilty of murdering Roin Shavadze, former soldier and participant in warfare in South Ossetia in August 2008.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a similar accusation against law enforcement bodies of Adzharia was moved back on December 30 last year by Georgian Ombudsman Sozar Subari. On August 15, 2008, Roin Shavadze was arrested in the daytime in a street in Batumi after he had returned from the warfare in South Ossetia, and two days later, "his dilapidated body was found in a suburb." In those very days, Mr Subari accused Merabishvili of secretly planning to disperse the rally in November 2007.

The "Gazeta.ru" quotes Dachi Tsaguriya, organizer of today's youth rally, who said today that Roin Shavadze had taken part in warfare in Batumi and never hid that "Georgian leaders used Georgian militaries as cannon fodder."

The MIA's press service has stated that the Constitution guarantees Georgian citizens of the right to assembly. "However, these actions should be sanctioned by the Mayoralty and held in predefined places. Besides, the law forbids blocking traffic on motorways, especially large highways," the "Izvestia" quotes a source from the press service.