Protests to be Resumed in Front of MIA, Parliament Today

The peaceful demonstrations that followed a Russian State Duma MP speaking from the Georgian Parliament Speaker's chair on June 20 will be resumed today at two different locations.

Demonstrators will gather in front of the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at 14:00 today, while at 19:00, the rally will be resumed in front of the Parliament building.

The demands of the demonstrators remain unchanged: the resignation of the Minister of Interior Giorgi Gakharia, the release of people detained on June 20, the punishment of police officers who used excessive force during the clash with protesters and the holding of snap parliamentary elections with a proportional electoral system.

Protests have been held daily in front of Parliament since June 20.

The visit of three Russian MPs to Georgia within the framework of a session of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy held at the Parliament building was followed by severe protests by the public and opposition MPs, especially due to the fact that Russian MP Sergei Gavrilov sat in the parliamentary Speaker’s chair.

The protests have already resulted in the resignation of Irakli Kobakhidze, Chairman of the Parliament and MP Zakaria Kutsnashvili, an organizer of the session of Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in Georgia.

By Ana Dumbadze