01 November 2007, 13:45
On the eve of the opposition meeting authorities of Georgia block traffic
On the eve of the general meeting on November 2, problems with movement have onset all over Georgia. Since today's morning, traffic has been blocked in the regions.
Koba Davitashvili, leader of the People's Party, has stated in his interview to the "Imedi" TV Company: "Today morning we wanted to leave for Cahetia, but when we came to the parking place, it turned out that the authorities have taken away technical documents from the drivers (in total we have leased 10 buses with 10 drivers)."
It is also worth noting that from November 1 the police is under the so-called "barrack regime", which means alert and increased readiness. In Zugdidi (Samegrelo, Western Georgia) people had problems with public transport, railroads were blocked, they did not sell tickets for the night train to Tbilisi, just closed ticket booths. The same situation is in Poti (Autonomous Republic of Adzharia), Vani, Ozurgeti and Akhaltsikhe.
Residents of towns and cities have declared that even if all the roads are blocked completely, all the same nothing will stop them, and they will go to the meeting on foot.
At the exit from Batumi (AR of Adzharia), the tunnel that connects the city with the central highway was blocked. Drivers were physically and morally insulted; the witnesses assert that the offenders were plain-clothes policeman.
In his turn, Shota Hizainishvili, head of the Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has assured that there are no traffic bans.
In Kutaisi, drivers of public transport have also confronted problems, namely, confiscation of their technical documents and driving licenses, there were accidents with tire damage and imposition of fines without moving any reasons.
