The Public Defender of Georgia is monitoring the rally ongoing near the Parliament, which is spread over a large area.

As of now (22:25), the situation has become tense several times at the gate of the Parliament building from the side of Chitadze Street, where some of the protesters tried to damage the integrity of the gate. The Public Defender of Georgia explains that one of the most important elements of freedom of assembly is the freedom to choose the location of the assembly, which is given special importance if a specific place/institution is the object of the protest or if expressing views on a specific location is the most effective way to reach the addressee of the protest, although the legislative process is interrupted at this stage in the Parliament building and it is important that the participants and organizers of the rally do not go beyond the scope of the right to peaceful assembly enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia.

The Public Defender once again reminds the Ministry of Internal Affairs that interference with freedom of assembly is permissible only when the assembly takes a violent and/or illegal nature, in which case the termination of the assembly by the authorities should be used as the last resort, and the use of force within the scope of the aforementioned should meet the strict test of necessity and proportionality.