The Democracy Research Institute echoes the arrest of the participants in the protest rally held at Tbilisi Airport and calls on the authorities not to use repressive police measures towards the peaceful civil protest expressed against the growing influence of the occupying country.

From the footage spread by the media, it can be seen that the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs blocked the entrance to the airport for the participants in the protest. Police officers were present in the entire territory of the airport, both on the inner and outer perimeter, and fully controlled the movement of the participants in the rally.

The footage shows no violence by demonstrators, and makes it clear that those gathered at the airport expressed their protest by shouting and whistling. According to the comments made by the director of the Patrol Police Department for journalists, the participants in the rally were arrested for egg throwing and verbal abuse, although it is not known whether all the arrested persons are offenders.

Considering that the law enforcement officers were mobilized in large numbers, fully controlled the process of the rally and had all the opportunities to manage the situation, the police should have acted with less interference in the freedom of assembly and expression and should not have arrested the participants in the rally.

The Democracy Research Institute calls on the Georgian authorities to release all the detainees as soon as possible.