MIA: Police Detain Person With Firearm at Rustaveli Protest
The Interior Ministry reported the detention of an individual who, according to the ministry, was carrying a firearm on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue during a September 2 rally.
The rally, which followed two guilty verdicts in protest-related cases and the reconvening of the Georgian Dream parliament’s fall session, saw heightened tensions and the detention of at least 16 activists on administrative charges.
Police “detained M.L., born in 1963, who on September 2, during the protest rally on Rustaveli Avenue, was walking among participants while carrying a firearm,” MIA said on September 3, adding that the police officers seized the firearm as evidence during his search.
The investigation has been launched under Parts 3 and 4 of Article 236 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which pertain to the purchase and illegal carrying of firearms and ammunition and are punishable by up to seven years in prison.
The ministry also said that “law enforcement seized different types of firearms and ammunition from the detainee’s residence.”
The MIA statement came after pro-GD TV channel POSTV’s initial report on the detention of a person with a firearm, who the channel said was “walking suspiciously among the rally participants.”
The Prosecutor’s Office charged the detainee under Article 236, Part 1 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which concerns “the illegal acquisition or possession of hunting firearms.” In its September 4 statement, it said the accused “illegally acquired and possessed firearms,” adding that a search of his residence revealed “22 firearms of various types and 810 cartridges.” The agency will request the Tbilisi City Court to impose pre-trial detention.
The news was updated on September 4, 18:15, to include the prosecutor’s office statement regarding the charges.
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