Protest Rally in Solidarity with Murdered Teenagers to Resume at 4 pm

Yesterday’s large-scale protest rally, held in solidarity with the families of two teenagers stabbed to death in early December, will resume today, at 4pm in fron tof the old parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue.

At present, there are three tents outside the parliament building, but organizers say there will be more in the afternoon.

Malkhaz Machalikashvili, the father of Temirlan Machalikashvili, who died as a result of a counter-terrorist operation by security forces in the Pankisi Gorge, stated he stands next to Saralidze and his people from Pankisi will attend the rally this afternoon.

The organizers of the rally say that today’s demonstration will be even larger than last night because locals from various regions of Georgia will arrive in Tbilisi to join.

Two 16-year old schoolboys, Levan Dadunashvili and Davit Saralidze from Tbilisi Public School 51, were brutally killed during a street brawl in the city center on December 1, 2017. Davituliani died on the scene while Saralidze was taken to the hospital and died the next day.

Yesterday, Tbilisi City Court announced the verdict in the case of the stabbing of two teenage boys in which two minors detained for the murder were found guilty.

The judge found one of the detainees guilty for the premeditated murder of one of the victims - Levan Dadunashvili, while the other detainee was found guilty for the attempted murder of Davit Saralidze. But the court failed to determine who in fact killed Saralidze, which triggered protest rallies in the capital.

By Thea Morrison

Photo; Imedi TV

Related stories:

Killed Teenager’s Father Releases Letter

Video Showing “Staged Provocation” at Rustaveli Rally Goes Viral on Facebook

PM Kvirikashvili Releases Statement after being Expelled from Rally