“Georgian Police Beat Me Up with a Russian Boot” – Police in Batumi Accused of Violence

Among the 23 persons arrested on administrative charges, on grounds of petty hooliganism and disobeying the legal demands of the police, was the head of the Batumi organization of the Droa party, Genri Dolidze. “Georgian police beat me up with a Russian boot. I don't know who, but I can identify him!” said Dolidze today before being transferred from Senaki temporary detention center to the Batumi City Court.

“I was arrested outside the barricade. They were detaining an Abkhazian veteran; I was shouting with my arms raised – he is a veteran of the Abkhazian war, don’t arrest him for Russia. When people heard this, they snatched him from the arms of the police.

At that time, operatives of the special tasks department said – you are not a veteran, right? Swore at me, dragged me inside the barricade, surrounded me, lay me down, handcuffed me, and pressed their feet on me. As my head was being pressed against the ground, one of the employees of the criminal police came and asked which one I was. When they raised my head and he recognized me, he kicked me in the face. I recognized him as Irakli Dgebuadze, who was cursing at me with rude, indescribable words, and beat me after he identified me,” stated Genri Dolidze, noting that he was persecuted on political grounds.

The police arrested a member of the Supreme Council from the United National Movement, Ilia Antadze, a son of Levan Antadze, at the rally.

“I was just standing as they were tussling with a man in front of me when I exclaimed - how can you treat an elderly man like this? At that time, a policeman came up from behind and shoved me into a group of policemen. They struck me in the ribs and thighs. I gave the police no reason to issue an arrest warrant. They detained me, beat me up, and verbally berated me,” says Ilia Antadze.

Batumi City Court was supposed to hear the cases of Genri Dolidze and Ilia Antadze today, but the sessions were postponed.

A Ukrainian woman arrested at the rally also spoke out about the aggressive conduct of the policemen: “They treated me very rudely. There’s footage of the arrest and everything seems normal, but before that, while no one was recording and I was being shoved in the car, they were using excessive force. I had a flag wrapped around me and they were trying to take it away; as I held onto it, they twisted my arms and fingers, and I also felt several punches. I still have bruises,” says Marina Chobanyan.

The Special Investigation Service has launched an investigation into the facts of possible abuse of power by particular employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs towards the participants of the rally. According to the agency, the investigation was initiated on the basis of the messages received from the Office of the Public Defender and from the detention cells of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Astoria Grande cruise ship, which departed from Sochi port carrying Russian passengers, entered Batumi port on the dawn of July 31. This was the second visit of the ship in the past week, and it was met by Georgian protesters holding Georgian, Ukrainian, and EU flags, as well as inscriptions ‘’Russia is an occupier.’’ The Ministry of Internal Affairs mobilized patrol and criminal police, as well as special forces units in the port, and blocked the approaches to the ship with metal barricades. In the course of the day, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained 23 protesters on grounds of petty hooliganism and disobeying the legal demands of the police. Part of the Russian tourists were able to disembark the ship with the help of the police to tour Batumi.

The cruise ship left Batumi port at the end of the day, a few hours earlier than planned, and headed to Turkey. According to the information published on the official website of the cruise, a similar trip planned for August and the following months will no longer include a stopover in Batumi. The program was altered likely as a result of protests in Batumi.