34 people, including opposition leaders, were detained during the dispersal of protests in Tbilisi
On Sunday, a previously announced protest took place on the Tbilisi-Senaki-Leselidze highway. Demonstrators managed to partially block the road near the Tbilisi Mall and impede traffic, but the police returned them to the sidewalk. Some of the protesters went inside the mall.
A rally also took place on Rustaveli Avenue. A protest march from Tbilisi Mall and the Tbilisi City Court reached there by half past one in the morning. The marchers covered about 14 kilometers.
According to the latest information from NGnewsgeorgia, 34 people were detained during Sunday's protests, one of them is 16 years old. There have been no official comments from the Ministry of Internal Affairs yet.
Among those detained are the leader of the "Coalition for Change" Nika Melia and the former mayor of the Georgian capital Gigi Ugulava. The former was later released from prison on bail. It is also known that during the filming of the clash between security forces and protesters, a cameraman from the Pirveli TV channel was injured, as a result of which he required medical assistance. At least five people with injuries were taken to hospitals.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas responded to the situation in Georgia, calling the brutal suppression of a peaceful protest "unacceptable".
"The EU stands with the people of Georgia in their fight for freedom and democracy," she wrote on social media.
