Freedom March to be Held at 19:00 Today

The second Freedom March is planned at 19:00 on July 6, the organizers of the peaceful demonstrations in Georgia's capital Tbilisi say. 

According to them, the Freedom March will start from the Parliament and end at the business center of the chairperson of the Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

As for July 7, writers and poets will perform on the stage in front of the Parliament building to express their support towards anti-occupation demonstrations in Georgia. 

The first Freedom March was held on June 29, the tenth day of the mass demonstrations in Tbilisi, when demonstrators gathered at the Republic Square and arranged a march to the Liberty Square.

The demand of the demonstrators remains unchanged: resignation of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia. The protestors believe that Gakharia is responsible for the raid of the rallies in front of the Parliament on June 20-21.

However, the Minister does not intend to resign.

The visit of three Russian MPs to Georgia within the framework of a session of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy held at the Parliament building was followed by severe protests by the public and opposition MPs on June 20, especially due to the fact that Russian MP Sergei Gavrilov sat in the parliamentary Speaker’s chair, speaking in Russian.

The protest turned into clashes with police after protesters tried to enter the parliament building. 

Police arrested 305 people for violation of public order. The majority of them have already been released.

240 individuals, including 32 journalists and 80 law enforcers were injured during a clash on Rustaveli Avenue of June 20, with 2 still in Intensive Care and Reanimation Department today.

There were two cases of individuals losing eyesight in one of their eyes because of the rubber bullets used by riot police.

Photo: March of Freedom/Facebook 

Related story: 'March of Freedom' to be Held Today

By Ana Dumbadze