Reports say around hundred residents of the Gonio village in Adjara Autonomous Republic held a protest rally in the village today demanding cancellation of the state of emergency in the region.
After the protesters hanged the flags of the National Movement party, led by President-election Mikheil Saakashvili, the rally was attacked by unknown persons, which disbanded the protesters.
The Adjarian officials say that no rallies are permitted in Adjara, because of the state of emergency in the region.
In the wake of the arrests of activists of the opposition Kmara (Enough) movement in Batumi, Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze re-imposed state of emergency in the Autonomous Republic on January 7, claiming that “certain forces” – presumably opponents of the Adjarian leadership – were “planning to stir up tension and terrorist acts.”
President-elect Mikheil Saakashvili today condemned the arrest of the activists of the youth movement Kmara (Enough), calling this fact a political persecution.
“We will never permit political persecution of people. I hope, Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze will ensure that these persons are released as soon as possible,” Saakashvili said at a news briefing on January 10.
The Kmara activists were arrested in Adjara on January 6 after they started to post banners in the streets of the Adjarian capital of Batumi with the slogans “Enough to Abashidze’s Dictatorship.”