Mountain for Freedom activists rally in Tbilisi

Members of the civic initiative Mountain for Freedom — including mountaineers, skiers, and mountain guides — gathered near Tbilisi’s Philharmonic Concert Hall today to launch a peaceful protest march.

The participants say their goal is to stand up for Georgia’s European future and to clearly reject any form of violence.

“For years, we’ve tried individually to speak up for our profession and the spaces we care about — for the development of mountain regions, for the protection of cultural heritage and the environment, and against damaging policies that hurt these areas,” one protester said. “Now we are uniting to join the peaceful protest movement and to distance ourselves from violence. What we are witnessing is the destruction of our country — the foundations of authoritarianism being laid, the presence of political prisoners, and a crisis of conscience.”