Families of ‘Political Prisoners’ Plan Rally

A group of people, who believe that their relatives have been arrested because of political reasons under pretext of various criminal charges, said it would hold a rally when the U.S. Vice President visits Georgia next week.

Zakaria Kutsnashvili, head of the non-governmental organization Law for People and one of initiators of the rally, said it would no way be a protest rally against the U.S. Vice President’s visit.

“On the contrary, we welcome this visit; we want to convey our concerns about political prisoners in Georgia to the U.S. Vice President,” he said on July 16.

Organizers say that they would line up on a sidewalk at the highway through which the U.S. Vice President’s convoy would pass on its way from airport to downtown Tbilisi. Rally participants would hold banners saying “freedom to political prisoners.”

Kutsnashvili said that dozens of opposition activists have been arrested in recent months. He, however, also said that there is another group of “political prisoners” who were arrested before the recent street protests, including, among others, those thirteen supporters of wanted ex-security minister Igor Giorgadze, who were jailed in 2007.

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