Statement by GRASS regarding the incidents near the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia
09 February, 2013
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GRASS deplores the violent incidents which took place on February 8, 2013 near the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. As a result of this violence the President of Georgia was deprived of the opportunity to address the audience, whereas the invited guests, including the Members of Parliament, journalists, civil society representatives and members of the diplomatic corpus were not allowed to attend the event. Moreover, many of the invited guests were verbally and physically abused.
We believe that this violent incident, as well as the Parliament’s decision to deny the right of the President to deliver annual address to the Parliament are the result of the failing cohabitation between the political parties, what constitutes a great danger for the democratic development of Georgia and the sustainability of state institutions.
We call on the Parliamentary majority and minority, the Prime Minister and the President to undertake all efforts in their powers to avoid the larger-scale confrontation and to reach the normalization of the political process. There is no alternative to the cohabitation between the two political parties. It is a primary task of both political actors, and foremost the Government to respect the state institutions and to work towards strengthening national security and democratic development.
February 8 events showed that the Ministry of Internal Affairs failed to implement its duties fully and in due diligence, in order to provide security for the guests, including the Members of Parliament. The Ministry did not undertake sufficient preventive measures, despite the fact that the demonstration was announced by a group of the amnestied prisoners well in advance. Police also failed to react effectively to the ongoing violence through detaining the perpetrators and dispelling the tensions.
We call on the law enforcement agencies to conduct timely, thorough and effective investigation of the violent acts, in order to hold responsible those, who physically assaulted the guests, including the politicians and the members of Parliament. It is particularly important to bring to justice the perpetrators of those violent acts, which have been documented by numerous TV footages.
