Georgian human rights activists to continue protest rally in Tbilisi

TBILISI, May 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Activists from Georgian
non-governmental and human rights will gather on Sunday in downtown
Tbilisi to protest against the policy of the authorities and the dispersal
of an opposition rally in front of the parliament building on May 26,
representatives from the Movement of Civil Opposition told journalists.
The organization is one of the initiators of the rally.
A similar rally was staged in the centre of the Georgian capital
Tbilisi on May 28. About 3,000 people took part in the protest action.
They marched from the monument to Shota Rustaveli to the parliament
building (about 700 meters). The protesters sent an appeal to
representatives of the European Union, to diplomatic missions accredited
in Georgia, and to international human rights organizations to say that
"Georgia's authorities savagely repressed peaceful protesters."
On May 26, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili accused the
organizers of protest actions held in Tbilisi of "sabotage, attempts to
thwart a military parade and of organizating mass disturbances." He said,
"under a scenario written outside Georgia attempts were made in Tbilisi to
wreck the celebration of the Independence Day." The opposition said these
accusations were groundless and blamed the authorities for violence in
dispersing the rally.