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Georgian opposition rallies in Tbilisi demand Saakashvili's release, early parliamentary elections
TBILISI. Nov 15 (Interfax) – Supporters of the Georgian opposition, some of whom were bussed from regions, staged a rally outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Saturday to demand early parliamentary elections and that the country’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili should be moved to a civilian hospital.
Several hundred people who gathered at the rally, also demanded, for the first time, Saakashvili’s release from custody and reinstatement of his Georgian citizenship, an Interfax correspondent reported.
Rally speakers said the fight "against the anti-people regime" would continue until the victorious end and that the current authorities were "operating at the Kremlin’s behest."
They also urged masses to join the protest movement.
"A silent position is [tantamount to] abetting a killing of president Mikheil Saakashvili," Nanuka Zhorzholiani, an opposition TV journalist, said.
Nikanor Melia, the real leader of the radical opposition and chairman of the United National Movement founded by Saakashvili, told the assembled that the plan was to hold anti-government protests daily.
"If we had sensible authorities, they would have long made steps towards social harmony, but since we are dealing with non-humans, we must continue our daily struggle against the anti-people regime," Melia said.
The current Georgian opposition campaign is a "struggle between the civilizations of the West and Russia," he said.
"Several of our protests will be held tomorrow, and not just in Tbilisi. The youth organization Shame will rally outside the parliament," Melia said.
Today’s rally ended without incidents.
At the rally Georgian national flags were waved alongside those of Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Saakashvili, who is now a Ukrainian citizen, secretly arrived in Georgia on September 29. On October 1 he was held in Tbilisi and jailed in the town of Rustavi. He announced a hunger strike. On November 8, without his family’s and lawyers’ knowledge, Saakashvili was transferred to a prison hospital in Tbilisi’s Gldani district.
In Georgia Saakashvili is a subject of several criminal investigations. Georgian officials had repeatedly warned him that he would be arrested once he crossed into the country. Saakashvili considers his detention to be illegal and the charges falsified.
