17 people detained in Tbilisi during eviction of residents of emergency building

Bailiffs and police have completed the eviction of residents from a dilapidated building on Tvalchrelidze Street in Samgori, 17 people were detained for disobeying security forces during a protest.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, the eviction of refugee families from Abkhazia from dilapidated buildings on Tvalchrelidze Street in Tbilisi's Samgori district began on the morning of July 24. A participant in the daily protest on Rustaveli Avenue called on other protesters in the evening to come to the eviction site to support the people left without housing.

Police detained 17 people on Tvalchrelidze Street, where the process of evicting residents from a dilapidated building took place throughout the day on July 24. Among those detained are both activists and several residents of the building, all of whom are accused of disobeying police orders (Article 173 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), InterpressNews reports with reference to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The National Bureau of Compulsory Enforcement reported on the evening of July 24 that the eviction process was completed. The furniture and belongings of the residents were taken out onto the street, they are gradually being loaded into cars and taken away. At the same time, demolition work has already begun on the building using heavy equipment, Tbilisi_life reports.

During the day, significant police forces began to be mobilized on Tvalchrelidze Street in Tbilisi, and clashes between security forces and protesters periodically occurred. The authorities reported that the eviction is being carried out on the basis of a court decision, while residents claim that this decision was made on the basis of a statement from a private owner who declared the building unsafe.

Among those detained on Tvalchrelidze Street during the day was a mother of five children, but she was released after submitting a written statement, said Tamta Mikeladze, a representative of the Social Justice Center. According to her, about 150 families lived in the vacated building. The authorities claim that 53 families had the status of internally displaced persons and 24 of them had already been provided with housing, while the remaining 29 families had only applied for housing, and only six of these applications were granted. Those families that do not have refugee status are, according to Mikeladze, socially vulnerable.

"We see that the evictions took place in very harsh forms. The method of eviction itself is important, since it was degrading and was associated with the violation of human rights," Pirveli TV quoted Mikeladze as saying.

After midnight, the number of people gathered on Tvalchrelidze Street decreased, although some activists still remained there, helping evicted families with loading their belongings. Among those evicted were people with refugee status and socially vulnerable families with children. According to a statement from the National Bureau of Enforcement, the eviction procedure has been postponed twice over the past year.

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