14 August 2024
Anti-mining protesters in the western Georgian town of Shukruti have vowed to march to the hometown of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, after a court banned them from blocking mine access.
The Sachkhere District Court banned residents of Shukruti, near Chiatura, from protesting outside a series of manganese mines. Protesters have spent the last five months blocking access to the mines to demand compensation for the damage, and in some cases, complete collapse of their homes caused by the mines.
On 8 August, Magharoeli LLC, a subcontractor of Georgian Manganese, sued the protesters demanding compensation of ₾5 million ($1.9 million) for company loss experienced as result of the protest.
The following day, the court ruled that Shukruti residents could not block mine entrances, an interim measure that came into force immediately. The defendants received the ruling on 11 August.
Residents of Shukruti have been protesting on and off since 2019, claiming that their houses are being damaged and destroyed by the manganese mining occurring underneath their village. In March 2024, they again began blocking the entrances to the Korokhnali and Shukruti mines, while additional protests have temporarily stopped work at several other mines.
[Read more: In Pictures | Living on the brink of collapse in Shukruti]
‘This unlawful group and criminal actions are disrupting the work of Magharoeli LLC, thereby causing significant damage to Magharoeli LLC, Georgian Manganese LLC and the state budget’, the lawsuit reads.
The company demanded the court ‘prohibit the participants of the protests from interfering with Magharoeli LLC in the extraction of manganese’. In their first ruling, the court said there was ‘definitely a danger’ the defendants would continue to interfere with the company’s work, and therefore would implement this interim measure immediately. The protestors, who say authorities have yet to physically enforce the ruling, have announced they will appeal the court decision.
The compensation requested by Magharoeli LLC will be decided by the court at a later date, following substantive discussion of the case.
Giorgi Neparidze, one of the Shukruti residents protesting, told OC Media that their protest will continue no matter what. The protestors have announced they plan to organise a march on 24 August from Shukruti to Chorvila, the hometown of the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, to demand the government look into the matter. Shukruti residents have been asking for government support for five years, but have yet to receive a response.
Shukruti residents have also asked that the national forensic bureau come to the village and assess the local properties. Based on this independent assessment, residents hope to receive compensation or alternative housing if there is further damage or collapse due to mining.
Salome Shubladze, director of social policy at the Social Justice Centre, a local rights group, told OC Media that the court decision does not discuss any rights of the protesters, such as property rights, the right to inviolability of personal life, or the right to live in a healthy environment.
According to Shubladze, the right to freedom of assembly is protected by the Constitution of Georgia, while international human rights law implies that it is important to give protesters the opportunity to protest ‘in the vicinity of their target audience’. In turn, businesses are obliged to respect the freedom of assembly of those affected by their activities.
‘This form of protest is not prohibited’, Shubladze said, asserting that the court’s ruling clearly limits the rights of the defendants to freedom of assembly and ‘does not even justify why interference in the area protected by this right is legal’.
Before this lawsuit, the company tried to re-open the mines by force, and three protesters were charged ₾1,000 ($370) each for ‘disrupting public order’.
