UNM political council member detained in Georgia

Today, Georgian law enforcers have detained David Kirkitadze, a member of the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party, as part of measures in an investigation into clashes between the opposition and the police on December 16.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 16, the inauguration of Salome Zurabishvili, the new President of Georgia, took place in Telavi. Oppositionists planned to hold a protest action in Telavi and took cars to go there, but were stopped by the police. Clashes occurred between the police and the protesters.

Today, David Kirkitadze, a member of the UNM political council, has been detained in Gurdjaani, where he stayed with his associate Nika Meliya, a member of the Georgian parliament.

There is a video of the David Kirkitadze's attack on the police, reports Natiya Mezvrishvili, Georgia Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

David Kirkitadze himself pleads not guilty. According to him, on December 16, the protesters did not attack the policemen, but, on the contrary, the policemen prevented them from moving. The oppositionist has noted that he is not going to cooperate with investigators and will testify only in court.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 17, 2018 at 05:55 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.