Robbery sparks protests in Tsalka

The Messenger
Monday, March 21, 2005, #050 (0824)

News in brief:

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced it will deploy extra
police to the ethnically diverse Tsalka region after a armed home
robbery late on Thursday led to public protests on Friday.

Thursday evening, the home of an ethnic Greek family in the village
Avranlo was robbed allegedly by a group of armed Georgians who
had been resettled to the region from Adjara in the 1990s; ethic
Armenians and Greeks have held protests demanding the punishment of
those responsible.

On Saturday, Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili said that
the “police control the situation” and that the protesters wrongfully
demand “to lynch a person.” Arguing that the police investigate every
case of crime in the region, the minister said, “We do not allow the
lynching of a person and the handing over of suspects to the citizens
for that.”

He said his office will deploy extra units including both ethnic
Greeks and Armenians. “There may start seasonal cattle stealing as
spring comes but on the other hand, district inspectors will start
working there. Luckily, citizens of Georgia of Greek and Armenian
nationality will work there [in the group of inspectors] and we hope,
that this will increase effectiveness,” he said.