In Tbilisi, performance participants demand resignation of Interior Minister

On July 17, in Tbilisi, in front of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), activists held a protest performance entitled "Shoot at Me" with the demand for the resignation of Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakhariya, the "First Channel" reports on its website.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 20, the protest actions began in Tbilisi after Sergey Gavrilov, a member of the Russian State Duma, took the chair of the speaker of the Georgian parliament at a meeting of the parliamentary Orthodox assembly. That fact provoked dissatisfaction of some MPs who were encouraged by opposition supporters. Law enforcers dispersed the protesters in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi. The Georgian Ministry for Public Health reported about 240 hospitalized people, and the MIA ‑ about the detentions of 305 protesters, some of whom were subjected to administrative arrests.

In Tbilisi, about 30 people participated in the protest action "Shoot at Me". They were dressed in identical white suits and were holding images of shot targets in their hands.

"Today is the 28th day of protest, and we have come to the building where Giorgi Gakhariya should sit, but we see that he is afraid not only to visit public places, but even to travel with a police escort. The purpose of our performance is to show Giorgi Gakhariya that we are the same targets as Giorgi and Mako, who lost their eyes on June 20," said Giga Makarashvili, one of the organizers of the protest rally in Rustaveli Avenue, as quoted by the "News-Georgia".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 18, 2019 at 06:08 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.