01 May 2013, 22:50
In Georgia, three persons continue one-month hunger strike near Bidzina Ivanishvili's business centre
Three persons spent the 31st day of their hunger strike near the business centre of Bidzina Ivanishvili, Prime Minister of Georgia. The participants of the protest action demand to issue long-term and low-interest loans to pay off the mortgage and to suspend evictions until the loans are repaid.
The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has reported that on April 28, Irina Mgvdeladze, a participant of the hunger strike in Georgia, attempted to commit self-immolation; however, she was stopped by staff members of the patrol police.
Irina Mgvdeladze continues to protest near the business centre of Bidzina Ivanishvili. The police did not apply any sanctions, Irina Mgvdeladze reports.
"I was not fined for my protest. They simply asked for explanations to find out why I decided to burn myself. I visited a doctor. I had to make rinse my eyes. At present, I stopped the hunger strike on the doctor's advice, even though I cannot eat much," the woman said.
According to the hunger-strikers' story, at first, there were seven of them. At present, there are three of them Mtavrisa Kadjaya, Mziya Djibladze and David Bursunashvili, and the others stopped the hunger strike, since "someone felt bad, someone left because his family members were evicted from the house."
According to the protesters' story, their main demands include: first, to avoid being evicted from their homes for failing to pay the mortgage, and, second, to be given a long-term and low-interest loans, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.
"This is the 31st day of our hunger strike. And I will also do what Irina Mgvdeladze did with herself. The life is unbearable! 12 persons of our family live in a tiny apartment that will be taken away because of our failure to pay for the mortgage," says Mziya Djibladze, a participant of the protest action.
In his turn, David Bursunashivli, a participant of the protest action, threatens to burn himself in the Sameba Cathedral in Tbilisi, if the government does not resolve their problems till Easter holiday and "if Ivanishvili does not pay any attention to us."
Every day, the protesters are visited by the citizens who come to support them.
It should be noted that the patrol policemen are on constant duty near the hunger-strikers. The participants of the protest action have explained that "the policemen treat them carefully and respectfully".
The protesters were met by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and David Sergienko, Minister of Labour, Health and Social Protection. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" Nona Kandiashvili, the head of the press service of the government of Georgia, who did not specify the date of the meeting.
"I would like to emphasize that Bidzina Ivanishvili did not mentioned in any pre-election promise or the programme that he would cover someone's private loans," she has noted.
"However, we all understand that in Georgia, this is the problem not of two-five persons, but of several thousands of persons. Therefore, the Ministry of Economy has established a commission that will investigate the situation and will find a way out of this difficult situation in the future. Thus, we will solve the problem on a global level and not only in special cases," Nona Kandiashvili has stated.
Author: Edita Badasyan Source: CK correspondent