Published
Mon, May 14, 2018, 12:57
- Giorgi Gakharia responded to protesters outside the Parliament building on Sunday night.
The Minister Of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia, has apologised to protesters in Tbilisi for Saturday's police raids of Bassiani and Café Gallery.
On Sunday evening, Gakharia made a statement from the Parliament building in Tbilisi, where the protest took place: "I apologise not only on my behalf, but on behalf of any representative of the Interior Ministry if he endangered you or your security. At the same time, I'd like to ask you, who insulted people wearing uniforms and were protecting your security, to apologise to them." A source who was at the scene tells Resident Advisor that the second part of the apology was met with boos, as protesters were largely positive and "none of us [had] done any harm whatsoever to the police."
On Saturday morning, armed police raided the two Tbilisi clubs and arrested approximately 60 people, according to a statement made by Bassiani. Bassiani's founders, Tato Getia and Zviad Gelbakhiani, were among those arrested. In response, the club community turned up outside the Parliament Of Georgia for a protest rave.
Gakharia's statement also acknowledged Georgia's strict drug policy and made promises to change it. "I also promise that we will achieve specific results in the direction of drug policy. And if promises are not kept, we will always be able to dance or listen to music in a free city."
Watch Gakharia's full statement.
Photo credit: OC Media