November 8, 2007. Riot Police Violently Disperse Peaceful Protesters in the capital of Georgia, Saakashvili Shuts TV Stations, Then Declares Emergency Rule.
Health Ministry of Georgia reported that 508 people had sought emergency assistance and some 118 of them remained hospitalized
Tens of thousands of people in Tbilisi are protesting against the government of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who came to power following demonstrations that swept aside his predecessor in 2003. Opposition leaders also accuse the government of blocking roads around Tbilisi to prevent more people from joining the protest. Political tensions in Georgia escalated following accusations of corruption and anti-state activities against President Saakashvili by his former defense minister, Irakli Okruashvili, who was jailed in 2008.
Riot police in the Georgian capital Tbilisi beat demonstrators and shot fleeing protestors with rubber bullets while trying to disperse anti-government demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said today. Riot police later raided the private television station, Imedi TV and forced it and the Kavkasia television station to stop broadcasting. The Georgian government then declared a state of emergency and banned news broadcasts for 15 days, except by the state-funded Georgian Public Television. Even in a time of crisis, Georgians have a right to protest peacefully without being beaten by the police, said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Firing rubber bullets at peaceful demonstrators is a complete abuse of the use of force. The government does not have a carte blanche to restrict fundamental freedoms just because it is in crisis.
The police also appear to have deliberately targeted journalists and independent observers. Two cameramen from Imedi TV were hospitalized, one with severe injuries, because of a beating by the police. Georgias ombudsman, Sozar Subari, was also beaten. Riot police attacked him with rubber truncheons as he was documenting the police actions. Subari said in a public statement that he believes he was deliberately targeted because as ombudsman he regularly criticizes the Georgian government for human rights abuses.
Two television stations, Imedi TV and Kavkasia, which were broadcasting extensive coverage of the demonstrations and the police response, were taken off air around 9 p.m. Imedi TV ceased broadcasting shortly after its anchor announced on live television that the riot police had entered the station. Imedi radio station also stopped broadcasting and Imedis website became inaccessible. A few minutes later, Kavkasia, which broadcasts only in the capital Tbilisi, also went off the air. Imedi TV was founded and co-owned by Badri Patarkatsishvili (NOW MYSTERIOUSLY DEAD AT YOUNG AGE), a wealthy financier and critic of the government who openly financed the opposition in Georgia. Beating journalists or shutting down television stations for reporting on the events cant be justified by subsequently declaring a state of emergency, said Human Rights Watch. History of Democratically elected friend of Bush, C. Rice, Cheney, McCain, Joe Biden and other Russophobes in U.S. government: On Feb 3, 2003 Georgia's Prime Minister, Zurab Zhvaniya, was found dead early Thursday and apparently killed by carbon monoxide. Lawmaker, Amiran Shalamberidze, suggested that Zurab Zhvaniya might have been murdered. Although Saakashvili and Zhvaniya had worked closely together in the well-orchestrated Rose revolution and in government, they were widely regarded as potential rivals. Zhvaniya was regarded as a moderating influence in disputes with Russia and on the impulsive Georgian president. Former Georgian President Shevardnadze, who helped to end the Cold War between the East and the West as former Foreign Minister of USSR, is another victim of the violent actions by McCain and Condoleezza Rice's great friend and so-called "Democratically elected" Saakashvili.
We should remember that Dictator Saddam Hussein, who died from the tortured execution, received far more votes in his last election than the wicked Georgian ruler Saakashvili.
2008 GEORGIA'S NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS HAVE URGED THE EUROPEAN UNION TO LAUNCH A THOROUGH ENQUIRY INTO ALLEGED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN SOUTH OSSETIA. MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITION LIKE SHALVA NATELASHVILI THE HEAD OF THE LABOR PARTY WOULD SAY: IF SAAKASHVILI DIDNT ATTACK TSKHINVALI THEN THE RUSSIAN AIR FORCE WOULDNT HAVE TAKEN OFF AND THE KREMLIN WOULDNT HAVE HAD REASON TO RECOGNISE THESE REPUBLICS, NATELASHVILI SAID.
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