The Ministry of Internal Affairs [MIA] releases the statement regarding the information, spread by the representatives of non-governmental organizations [NGO] and members of various political groups.

“On behalf of the representatives of NGOs and members of various political groups, a number of false accusations are being spread within the last few days regarding the measures taken by the MIA at the manifestation in order to discredit the law enforcement officers.

The public is able to clearly see that when a protest takes place within the framework of a peaceful assembly and there are no violent events, the police provide all necessary measures so that the participants of the assembly have the opportunity to freely express their protest.

However, the public witnessed a number of cases when the ongoing protest on Rustaveli Avenue, in the vicinity of the Parliament building, went beyond the norms established by the law on assembly and manifestation and became massively violent.

It is worth noting that the purpose of some of the individuals attending the rally was to carry out violent actions from the beginning. This is confirmed by the fact that upon arriving at the gathering, they had illegal items with them - stones, iron construction materials, pyrotechnics etc. Herewith, as a result of the investigative actions, various illegal items intended for the participants of the rally, actively used to attack the policemen, were seized from the offices of the rally organizers.

In the course of the protests, after the gathering became a mass breach of peace, the MIA, in order to de-escalate the situation, carried out consistent measures in full compliance of the law.

It should be emphasized that prior to the use of special means, the participants of the gathering were constantly warned, both by official statements and by special warning signals on the spot.

Various media outlets and social networks are spreading information about the injured protesters. The public could clearly see that the police were arresting violent individuals, who in many cases resisted the law enforcement officers.

In most cases, the violent persons resisted the policemen at the moment of the arrest, in the course of which physical injuries were inflicted to the detainees and the employees of the MIA.

We would like to remind the public that as a result of the mentioned violent actions, 171 employees of the MIA were injured. Some of the injured received severe injuries, namely: up to 10 policemen needed a complex surgical intervention, up to 40 law enforcement officers received serious injuries in face, head and eye areas as a result of the stones thrown by the protestors. Herewith, up to 60 employees of the MIA received multiple burns to face, limbs and body areas as a result of pyrotechnics, while one employee suffered significant hearing loss as a result of the trauma caused by pyrotechnics.

As for the alleged use of excessive force from the side of the policemen, as it has been mentioned a number of times, the special investigative service is conducting an investigation and the MIA actively cooperates with the investigative agency within the frames of its mandate.

We would like to remind the public that from November 28 up to date, a number of criminal acts committed by the participants of the rally have been recorded, along with the ongoing violent actions on Rustaveli Avenue and its surrounding area, including robber attacks, up to 60 incidents of theft, various types of stealing inventory, cash, clothes and other items. From various facilities located on Rustaveli Avenue, the facts of stealing of various inventory, including ATMs and cash registers were witnessed which were later used as barricades.

Dozens of thefts of personal belongings have been recorded as well. The exterior facades of various buildings on Rustaveli Avenue are broken and damaged. The damage caused to private individuals and the state by criminal activities exceeds one hundred thousand GEL.

In recent days, various media outlets and social networks have been actively spreading information on the confiscation of personal belongings of detainees and their disappearance under vague circumstances.

We want to respond to the spread information and inform public that according to Article 26, paragraph II of the Law “On Police” and Article 249 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, police has the right to temporarily confiscate or seize a person’s actual possession of an item in the case defined by the law.

Personal belongings, which were confiscated on the basis of the above-mentioned norms, were returned to the detained persons in temporary detention centers, according to the acting legislation, upon release. The spread information, alleging that the employees of the MIA illegally confiscated personal belongings from the arrestees, is a complete falsehood and only serves to discredit the Agency and the police officers”, - reads the statement.