Political analysts argue about law enforcers' actions at dispersal of Tbilisi action

Zaal Andjaparidze, the coordinator of the International Centre for Conflicts and Negotiations, finds the policemen's actions in Rustaveli Avenue reasonable, as a whole, while Mamuka Zhgenti, an expert of the Georgian Institute of European Values, saw gross violations of the law in them.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the morning on June 21, law enforcers dispersed a protest action, launched on June 20 near the building of the Georgian Parliament. According to the Ministry of Public Health, 240 people were hospitalized.

The police's actions to disperse the protesters, despite some excesses, were generally legitimate, Zaal Andjaparidze, a programme coordinator at the International Centre for Conflicts and Negotiations, believes. However, Mamuka Zhgenti, an expert of the NGO, the Georgian Institute of European Values, does not share this opinion: policemen failed to warn the protesters about the start of dispersal with the use of special means, although they had to do it according to the law.

"If their mission was to protect the parliament, why did they pursue protesters in the streets and in the park? What was the reason that they were chasing people? If they used tear gas, then, why did they use rubber bullets? Legal procedures were violated, and those in charge should be brought not only to a political, but also to a legal response," Mr Zhgenti told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 21, 2019 at 07:12 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.