Protesters block Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue for 236th day in a row

Participants in the daily protest in Tbilisi have made unwavering demands for new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners. Doctor Giorgi Akhobadze spoke about the unbearable conditions of detention in the Gldani prison.

As "Caucasian Knot" wrote, since November 28, 2024, protesters in Tbilisi have been holding daily rallies in front of the Georgian parliament and blocking traffic along Rustaveli Avenue, demanding the release of all arrested supporters of European integration and the appointment of new parliamentary elections.

Supporters of Georgia's European integration gathered outside the parliament building in Tbilisi and blocked traffic along Rustaveli Avenue for the 236th day in a row, NEWS.On.ge reported.

The participants of the action brought the flags of the European Union and Georgia to Rustaveli Avenue, several women with national flags on their shoulders stood in a row on the roadway, according to the photo report of the publication. Also, with the flag of Georgia on his shoulders, political prisoner Luka Jabua, who turns 21 today, is depicted in a stencil drawing applied to the wall near his house in Zugdidi, Publika reports.

One of the Georgian political prisoners, doctor Giorgi Akhobadze, spoke about the unbearable conditions of detention in Gldani prison. According to Akhobadze, there is insufficient ventilation in the premises and in the summer heat, prisoners suffer from stuffiness, and the fans in the prison store have run out.

The doctor noted that such conditions pose a direct danger to the lives of prisoners with serious illnesses. Prisoners have been complaining about the ventilation problem in Gldani prison for many years; the Public Defender's Office in Georgia stated back in 2024 that the ventilation system was faulty, Pirveli TV reports.

"Caucasian Knot" wrote that Akhobadze was detained on December 7 after a protest on Rustaveli Avenue; on December 10, the court remanded him in custody on charges of drug trafficking. Giorgi Akhobadze told his lawyer that he was walking down the street with a friend when they were stopped by patrol police. "When they handcuffed him and led him to the hood of a car, he felt a police officer put his hand in his left pants pocket and realized that they were trying to plant a prohibited substance on him," the lawyer reported.

The Caucasian Knot published a report "The Main Thing About the Persecution of Protest Participants in Georgia". The Caucasian Knot collected materials about the parliamentary elections and the protests that followed them on the page "Elections in Georgia-2024".

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