Opposition Party Says its Activist Arrested

The opposition Conservative Party said that Mamuka Chkhvimiani, the head of its regional office in Dmanisi, Kvemo Kartli region, was arrested on June 25 under the “fabricated” charges of illegal possession of arms.

The party said that the police had “planted” a hand-grenade and four ball-cartridges in Chkhvimiani’s house in Dmanisi.

Another activist from the Conservative Party, head of the Khobi regional office Ioseb Keburia was arrested on June 17 on drug-related charges. The court has sent him into two-month pre-trial detention.

The party called on the international organizations and foreign diplomats to press on the authorities in order “to stop attacks against opposition members and supporters as well as politically motivated arrests.”
 
Other opposition parties, including Nino Burjanadze’s Democratic Movement-United Georgia, as well as those from Alliance for Georgia, have also reported arrests of their activists both in Tbilisi and in provinces mainly on the charges related with illegal possession of arms and drugs. The opposition parties’ said that the arrests were politically-motivated to undermine and intimidate their powerbase in the provinces.

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