The Day of Soviet Occupation is marked on February 25. Public Defender Nino Lomjaria pays tribute to the warriors fallen in the fight against the Soviet occupation regime.

February 25 is a tragic and symbolic day of fight for freedom, Western values, rights and freedoms. The Soviet occupation resulted in 70 years of neglect of the fundamental human rights and freedoms; hundreds of thousands of Georgian citizens were repressed, killed or exiled.

Unfortunately, occupation still continues. The murder of Giga Otkhozoria at the occupation line in May 2018, the torture and murder of Archil Tatunashvili in the Tskhinvali prison in February 2018 and other murders, non-investigation of these crimes, impunity of murderers, frequent illegal detentions at the occupation line, constant creeping annexation and information war clearly demonstrate that the occupation started at the beginning of the last century still continues. The freedom achieved needs to be daily protected and maintained.