(Tbilisi, June 13 2003, Civil Georgia) – 9 activists of the Kmara (Enough) anti-governmental student movement, who were detained on June 12 while holding a protest rally in front of the Interior Ministry, were released late on the same day.
“They were kept in detention illegally for 7 hours, police could not formulate charges against the students,” Tina Khidasheli of Georgian Young Lawyers Association, which was the detained students’ lawyer, said.
The released students said their detention was illegal and the police had no ground for it, since each citizen has the right to express own position.
The Kmara activists were detained after the direct order of the Georgian Interior Minster Koba Narchemashvili, while the students were painting the walls of the Interior Ministry building with the word Kmara.
Interior Minister told the Kmara activists to stop painting and said it was “the hooliganism.” Then Narchemashvili ordered the police to detain the students.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)