GEORGIAN GOVERNOR CRITICIZES POLICE FOR FIRING IN THE AIR DURING ARMENIAN RALLY

Rustavi-2 TV, Georgia
Oct 6 2005

[Presenter] Shots were fired in Akhalkalaki [mainly ethnic Armenian
town in southern Georgia] when the protest outside the district
administration building [on 5 October] turned into a mass riot.

People had been protesting about decisions made by the financial and
tax services. Officials had started auditing about 10 shops in the
town, prompting the shop owners to stage noisy protests.

In an attempt to ease tension, representatives of the Interior
Ministry’s emergency situations department fired several shots in
the air, causing a panic among the protesters, some of whom suffered
minor injuries.

Governor Goga Khachidze has been holding meetings in the region since
this morning. He says that the officials responsible for injuring
the protesters may have to answer for their actions.

[Khachidze, interviewed] There may have been an incident and there
may have been tension, but, in my opinion, they had no right to fire
shots, even in the air. They should certainly answer for that.