In the Marneuli municipality of Georgia’s Kvemo Katrli region, two people were briefly detained during a demonstration organised by farmers protesting problems related to the sale of their produce.
Farmers gathered on Wednesday in the village of Shulaveri of the municipality around noon. According to local Radio Marneuli, the protesters said they were struggling to market local products and were forced to sell them below market rates due to the abundance of imported goods.
‘The farmers’ main demand is that the authorities actively engage in finding a solution and develop mechanisms to support local production’, Radio Marneuli reported.
The protesters demanded a meeting with Marneuli Mayor Daur Ismailov, from the ruling Georgian Dream party, saying that they would otherwise block a major motorway close to where they were holding their protest.
After Ismailov failed to appear, the farmers attempted to block the road, with police intervening and detaining two people on charges of disobeying them.
The remaining demonstrators said they would not disperse until the detained individuals were released. Radio Marneuli later reported that the detainees were released after signing written undertakings.
Following the detentions, in the afternoon, Marneuli Deputy Mayor Giorgi Godabrelidze arrived at the scene. He said that a five-member initiative group would be formed to work with municipal officials on addressing issues related to the sale of local produce.
Final decisions, according to Radio Marneuli, will be announced after a meeting scheduled between municipal representatives and farmers.
The Marneuli municipality is predominantly populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis.
Agil Mustafayev, a local representative of the opposition party Lelo, was at the scene with the protesters. He said he fully supports the farmers’ ‘legitimate demands’, adding that ‘local producers must be protected’.
Georgia’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili also responded to the protests, expressing solidarity with the farmers. He claimed that, in his time in office, he ‘freed ethnic Azerbaijanis in the region from pressure’, while accusing the Georgian Dream’s founder, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, of having ‘driven these hardworking, patriotic people back into poverty through his corruption’.
‘I call on the entire opposition in Tbilisi to go to Marneuli, go to the villages of Kvemo Kartli, gather facts, and stand with our fellow citizens. Enough sitting in studios and writing pointless statements!’ he wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Lasha Parulava, a member of Saakashvili’s formerly ruling exUnited National Movement (UNM) party, visited the municipality. According to Facebook live streams from his page, he spoke with locals in the village of Kirikhlo and distributed UNM leaflets.
