First mini-buses traveling to Tbilisi to attend the protest demonstration appeared at 5 AM at the exit from Kutaisi. However, patrol police hindered the supporters of the demonstration.
“We faced first problems yesterday. Patrol policemen seriously oppressed us. This morning we were waiting for the mini-buses when drivers told us that police had seized their driving licenses. We sat in other cars but at the exit from Kutaisi the patrol police blocked our way again and we cannot travel yet,’ said Nato Katamadze, deputy chairwoman of Republic Party’s Kutaisi Office.
The main obstacle for opposition parties waited fro them at the main exit from Kutaisi. There happened several clashes between patrol policemen and people who were going to the demonstration. Luckily the situation soon calmed down.
“Yesterday, President Saakashvili made people come from the villages in Kutaisi and forced them to listen to him. Then he tried to surprise people by firework as if it could feed hungry people. Today, we, peaceful citizens, are blocked our way to the capital and are forced to go back. I have four children and I state that I will not give in and will go to Tbilisi on foot. People have got tired of so much injustice,” said Marina Giorgadze, a resident of Kutaisi who was stopped by policemen.
Thousands of people, gathered at another exit from Kutaisi, so called “Sagoria”, make similar statements. They are waiting people to join them from other district of Imereti. They do not exclude the possibility that they will meet many obstacles on their way to Tbilisi.
Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi