Zhvania, Burjanadze Condemn Servicemen Protest

Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze and Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania condemned the decision made by 60 servicemen from the Internal Troops to abandon their military unit and hold a protest rally outside the Ombudsman?s office in Tbilisi.
 
?In this case each soldier should be punished in accordance with the Georgian Constitution,? Nino Burjanadze told reporters on December 20.
 
?We understand that the soldiers want to have better conditions.  But they have probably forgotten how they lived a year ago,? the Parliamentary Chairperson added.
 
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania also said that all of soldiers participating in the protest should be ?strictly punished.?
 
Over 60 servicemen of the Georgian Internal Troops deserted the military unit in Mukhrovani on December 20 and protested against bad social conditions in the military unit.
 
Incoming Defense Minister of Georgia Irakli Okruashvili has already threatened to punish all of them, claiming that the military unit in Mukhrovani was just recently reconstructed and well-equipped.