Today’s rally has winded down in Tbilisi, to resume at 7pm tomorrow. However, a part of demonstrators remain.
Three major demands were voices during the rally, which are resignation of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia, release of the demonstrators detained the night earlier, and change to the fully proportional election system for 2020 presidential polls.
People again gathered in front of the parliament and in the garden of Tbilisi State University on June 21 in reaction to previous night’s developments, when a peaceful demonstration grew into a violent clash between the protesters and the police.
240 people, including 80 police officers were injured, as police dispersed protesters through massive use of tear gas and rubber bullets, while a total of 305 protesters were detained for various criminal offenses.
Demonstrators at the Parliament – who were mainly civic activists and youth – demanded that Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia would resign within three hours. They also called on to release everyone detained during the clash and also to bring the police officers – “who exceeded the force” – to justice.
The protesters on both locations distanced themselves from political parties, saying it was “a civic protest” against police brutality.
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