Georgian Officials Pay Tribute to April 9 Victims

On April 9, Georgian officials paid tribute to the 20 victims killed by Soviet troops whilst peacefully protesting for Georgian independence in Tbilisi on April 9, 1989.

Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze laid a wreath at the memorial site in front of Tbilisi. The events of April 1989 “united the Georgian people in their fight for freedom,” he stated. “I bow my head to our heroes; Georgians will always stay faithful to the ideals that united us thirty years ago.”

Davit Zalkaliani, Georgian Foreign Minister, also attended the memorial. “The struggle is not yet over as we still have an unaccomplished goal of becoming a full-fledged member of European and Euro-Atlantic institutions,” he said.

President Salome Zurabishvili also visited the memorial. However, she left without speaking to the media. The mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze also lit a candle at the memorial.

The United Opposition, a United National Movement led coalition of 12 opposition parties, remembered the tragedy at a memorial in Zugdidi.

By Amy Jones