Paata Burchuladze: ‘the time is over when we shouted for political prisoners’ release and then dispersed’

Leader of the Rustaveli Avenue movement, Paata Burchuladze, on Friday said on October 4 protests will no longer be limited to Rustaveli Avenue but will take place at multiple locations across Tbilisi and in the regions.

“This time demonstrations will be held in different parts of Tbilisi with 10–20 thousand participants. Protests will also be organised in the regions, including Samegrelo and Adjara. The time is over when tens of thousands of citizens came out, shouted ‘release political prisoners,’ and then dispersed. That brought no results. Hunger strikes also changed nothing – instead, we were beaten, arrested, and harmed. Things cannot continue this way. We start on October 4 and we end on October 4,” Burchuladze said.

According to him, the movement is already working in an organised manner across the country, bringing together representatives from different professional spheres.

“We already have coordinated groups everywhere. We are preparing for the October 20 EU ministerial, where our representative will present the movement’s position. As I promised society, this is already visible – people from all professions are uniting. Among us are Merab Sepashvili, Tea Darchia, Malkhaz Machalikashvili, and other public figures. This is a national movement, which is why we are holding a national assembly. No political party owns our protest – they may come, but only as citizens, not as party leaders,” Burchuladze said.