05 July 2019, 10:22
Rights defenders point to police's mistakes made at dispersing protesters in Tbilisi
By their actions, protesters provoked policemen to start dispersing them, but law enforcers behaved excessively aggressively; and they unreasonably used special means, the Georgian Centre for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (CHREM) has stated.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 21, law enforcers dispersed the protesters. The Ministry of Public Health reported 240 hospitalized victims. On July 4, the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Georgia stated that the case of using violence at rallies in Tbilisi would be investigated under the article on an attempt to overthrow the power, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported that four activists suspected of attacking policemen had been detained.
A data analysis has shown that the responsibility for the incident lies with the country's MIA, says the report of the above CHREM.
It is noted that the rally was dispersed with extreme cruelty; policemen fired rubber bullets, aiming at protesters, who posed no threat to law enforcers.
The police ignored the requirements of the law when dispersing the protesters; law enforcers broke the rules for using special means; as a result, activists were injured, some received serious traumas.
The actions of the opposition require adequate legal and political assessment, the report says.
The decision to stop the rally was legal, but the police did it by using unpleasant and unacceptable methods. First of all, law enforcers failed to convey the information about the planned dispersal of the rally to the protesters. Besides, the use of special means and equipment by policemen was accompanied by attacks on protesters.
The report says separately about the violence against journalists.
On June 21, Beslan Kmuzov, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, who was present at the rally near the parliament building in Tbilisi, was hospitalized with a wound to his head.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 5, 2019 at 02:27 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Galina Gotua Source: CK correspondent
