Categories
Journalistic Survey
Articles
Reportage
Analitic
Photo Reportage
Exclusive
Interview
Foreign Media about Georgia
Editorial
Position
Reader's opinion
Blog
Themes
Children's Rights
Women's Rights
Justice
Refugees/IDPs
Minorities
Media
Army
Health
Corruption
Elections
Education
Penitentiary
Religion
Others

Policemen Forced People Out of Mini-Buses in Kakheti Region

April 10, 2009

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

On April 9 policemen forced people out of mini-buses which were driving people from Kakheti to Tbilisi. The passengers reported that the patrol police cars blocked their mini-buses on the road and forbade the drivers to continue to Tbilisi.  Tthe law enforcers threatened the drivers with detention if they did not obey the law enforcers..

Not a single mini-bus or taxi is allowed to travel to Tbilisi from the Kakheti Region

Personnel of the criminal police department are on duty in the auto-stations of every district in the region.

The patrol police are stopping almost every car at the offices of the patrol police in the village of Chalaubani in the Gurjaani district and in the village of Akura in the Telavi district. They do not allow them to travel to Tbilisi.

At 10:00 am personnel of the criminal police department stopped every mini-bus in Gurjani auto-station which was planning to go to Tbilisi and ordered every passenger to leave the bus. Unless they obeyed them, the law enforcers threatened everybody with detention regardless of whether or not the people were going to Tbilisi to take part in the demonstration .

“I am taking medical treatment in the central hospital in Tbilisi. I have and appointment for the doctor to meet with me today. I got on the mini-bus in Gurjaani auto-station but policemen made me get off. I asked them the reason but they did not explain anything to me. They said the roads are blocked to Tbilisi and we could not reach the capital. I was explaining to him that I was not going to join the demonstration; I showed him medical documents but he did not listen to me. Finally I was compelled to leave the mini-bus,” said Venera Zveriashvili, a resident of Gurjaani.

“I have been in the auto-station for several hours but I cannot go to Tbilisi. The policemen stop every mini-bus, make people get off the buses and forbid the drivers to travel to Tbilisi and threaten them,” said Zviad Kviralashvili, representative of the Republic Party, member of Gurjaani Municipality Board.

Policemen Kicked Out Passengers in the Village of Velistsikhe

Policemen from Gurjaani Criminal Department kicked the passengers who were traveling to Tbilisi out of the mini-buses in the village of Velistsikhe, Gurjaani district. The passengers reported the facts to us.

They reported that a patrol police car blocked the way of their mini-bus and did not allow it to move on. “As soon as we stopped the mini-bus, they shouted at us to get off. Several people were traveling to Tbilisi, others were going to Rustavi but they also were forced out of the bus. The policemen threatened the driver with detention,” said the passengers.

Also Mini-Buses Can Not Run from One District of Kakheti Region to Aother District of the Region

On April 9 mini-buses cannot run between various districts of Kakheti region on April 9 .

Drivers of the itineraries Telavi-Gurjaani, Telavi-Lagodekhi and from Telavi to other towns of the region stated that they were ordered by policemen not to work on April 9. According to them, unless they obeyed the demand, the law enforcers threatened to create problems for them,

The officials from auto-stations state April 9 is an official day-off in Georgia and for that reason buses do not run.

News