Over the past three days, 60 participants of protest actions in Tbilisi have been detained for blocking roads and wearing masks. This was reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, according to UNN.
According to the Code of Administrative Offenses, over the past three days, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have detained 60 participants of the action for violating the rules for holding assemblies and demonstrations
As noted, patrol police officers repeatedly explained to the demonstrators that they had no right to block the roadway during small-scale actions, but they did not obey the calls.
Let's add
Since October 17, in Georgia, artificial road blocking or appearing at a rally in a mask is punishable by administrative arrest for up to 15 days.
According to "News Georgia", about 150 demonstrators have been detained during the ten days of the new restrictions. Among them are more than a dozen journalists, as well as doctors, directors, and writers.
According to the innovations, a repeated violation at a rally becomes a criminal offense punishable by up to one year in prison, subsequent ones - up to two years.
The authors of the amendments from "Georgian Dream" claim that the new measures are intended to prevent participants of small protests from constantly blocking the center of Tbilisi and creating inconvenience for citizens.
According to NGOs, the changes contradict the Constitution and norms of international law, serve to intimidate citizens, strengthen self-censorship among critics of the ruling "Georgian Dream", criminal prosecution of protest organizers, and criminalization of any protest.