The public is following the events taking place in the vicinity of the legislative body through live broadcasts of various TV channels - illegal actions were already observed within minutes of the start of the gathering, reads the statement, issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs [MIA].

A certain part of the protest participants, as in previous days, continues to engage in violent actions today. For several hours, the public has clearly seen the persistent attacks on police officers by aggressive groups of the protest.

Employees of the relevant units of the MIA are making efforts to repel the members of the aggressive group using water cannons, however, the demonstrators continue their violent actions.

Cases have been observed when, in order to damage the parliament building, members of the violent group first break windows with stones and other heavy objects, then throw flammable substances into the rooms of the building, and start fires using pyrotechnics.

It should also be noted that various media outlets are broadcasting footage of young children at the ongoing gathering and demonstration.

According to Georgian law, every child has the right to enjoy the freedom of peaceful assembly. However, the ongoing protests have repeatedly gone beyond the frames of peaceful assembly and have taken on a violent character, therefore, children at the demonstration are in a violent environment and there is a high risk for them to be injured.

According to the Code on the Rights of the Child, a child must be provided with a safe environment and public space, therefore, the parent or person responsible for raising the child is obliged to protect him/her.

Despite the fact that shortly after the start of the rally, an official statement was made by the representative of the MIA, calling for the safe conduction of the rally-demonstration in a peaceful environment and to refrain from violent actions, society can clearly see that the actions of the protesters repeatedly went beyond the limits of a peaceful assembly defined by law.

We call on parents and legal representatives of minors to act in accordance with the best interests of the child and to remove them from a violent environment.

We also would like to warn aggressive participants of the rally to cease their illegal actions, otherwise, the MIA will take appropriate measures defined by the law.

The Agency would also like to inform the public that the MIA is actively investigating all criminal acts committed by violent groups in the course of the ongoing protests, within the frames of which one person has been arrested for property damage.

The MIA continues the investigation to identify and detain all perpetrators of the crime.

Each illegal act will be followed by appropriate legal action from the police”, - reads the statement.