Council of Europe Commissioner calls for peaceful resolution of Tbilisi confrontation
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Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović has called on "all sides" of the clashes in Tbilisi to "resolve any controversies through peaceful dialogue" after the confrontation left 240 individuals injured on Thursday night.
Mijatović offered her reaction to the events on Friday, saying she followed the skirmishes outside the Parliament of Georgia and Rustaveli Avenue "with deep concern" and urging for restraint as protests are expected to renew on Friday evening.
I regret that dozens of demonstrators, journalists and police officers have sustained injuries, in some cases very severe. I wish those injured a speedy recovery."
I also urge the Georgian authorities to carry out prompt and effective investigations into the events in order to ensure accountability for violence and to give clear instructions to the police to guarantee that operations to maintain public order are carried out with due respect of human rights," the CoE Commissioner said in her reaction.
Of the 240 injured 80 were law enforcement officers, with over 30 reporters also receiving medical care throughout the night after the clashes saw police use water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to prevent protesters from storming the parliament yard and the building itself.
Human Rights Watch has urged the Georgian government to investigate the use of force by the police and said the law enforcement used rubber bullets and tear gas "without warning" against the demonstrators.
The confrontation was sparked following protests starting at noon, in turn caused by an appearance of Russian State Duma MP Sergey Gavrilov in the Georgian parliament's speaker chair to deliver his address of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, hosted in the capital.
His appearance in the lawmaking body, on the backdrop of ongoing occupation of two of Georgia's regions by the Russian military, caused an uproar among the political opposition and citizens who demanded repercussions from the government, including resignation of Parliament Chair Irakli Kobakhidze.
While Kobakhidze resigned from his position on Friday, demonstrators are expected to gather again during the evening on June 21.
Human Rights Watch has reacted to the June 20 demonstration in Tbilisi, triggered by the presence of Russian MPs in Georgia, and urged the Georgian government to investigate the use of force during the rally which left 240 injured.
240 individuals were hospitalised after yesterday’s rally in Tbilisi, many of them with minor injuries, 80 were law enforcers, Deputy Health Minister Zaza Bokhua stated earlier today while visiting patients at the Ingorokva Clinic in Tbilisi.
Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov, whose address in the Georgian parliament sparked demonstrations in Tbilisi yesterday, says that the unrest was beforehand planned “by radical Georgian opposition forces,” who used the presence of Russian MPs in the parliament building as a reason to start anti-government rallies.
International media outlets have responded to the June 20 developments in Tbilisi where people held a protest rally during the visit of Russian MPs to Tbilisi. The BBC reports that Georgian opposition MPs called for protests in response to Russian MP Gavrilov’s decision to deliver a speech from the parliamentary speaker's seat.
The Georgian Patriarchate says the government made a mistake which made people rally in central Tbilisi yesterday and that the opposition has been making ‘incorrect calls’ which gave rise to tensions during the demonstration.
Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia says that “destructive opposition forces,” which managed to transform the Georgian people’s “fair and sincere protest” into violence, fled the scene when unrest erupted and abandoned demonstrators.
14 protesters out of those detained during clashes with police last night have been sentenced to 12 days of administrative detention. They were sentenced for hooliganism and clashes with the police.
People started gathering on Rustaveli Avenue at 7 p.m. today, after a rally was held and dispersed at the same place in front of the parliament yesterday. Many demonstrators have negatively reacted to the speeches of opposition leaders, stating that they came to protect the state interests and not to stand by any opposition force.
32 journalists received injuries during the June 20 demonstration in Tbilisi, many of them were shot by rubber bullet shots, the Georgian Charter of Journalist Ethics said earlier today.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered a ban on flights to Georgia as part of Russian state reaction to protest in Tbilisi following a Duma MP's appearance in the Tbilisi parliament.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir denounced “the violent incidents and mistreatment of media workers” during the June 20’s demonstration in Tbilisi, saying that “journalists’ safety must be ensured at all times”.
Russian officials on Friday called for boycott of tourism and trade relations with Georgia following what President Putin's administration called a "Russophobic provocation" in Tbilisi clashes the previous day.
The official Kremlin response decried the events as a "dangerous display", while the State Duma's Tourism Committee head called for boycott of Georgian tourist resorts and trade goods, among reactions.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell has made his first comments regarding June 20 events and following rallies in Tbilisi, praising the offer of the Georgian Dream ruling party on elections and urged the investigation of rally dispersal in central Tbilisi last week.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has awarded four medics for their high professionalism and dedication during the July 20 rally in Tbilisi to help the injured during the unrest.