GYLA: students were confronted by organized groups at TSU - we call on the prosecutor's office to start an investigation due to the inappropriate response of the police

GYLA issues a statement regarding the violence against students at the 2nd building of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University on May 18.

As mentioned in the statement, the police mobilized on the spot had an untimely response to the incident, therefore the organization calls on the prosecutor's office to initiate an investigation and respond effectively to the persecution/violence against the students on discriminatory grounds.

"On May 18, 2024, before Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's lecture, students were waiting in front of Tbilisi State University to peacefully protest against the Russian law. According to publicly available sources, the students were confronted by pre-organized groups who abused them verbally and physically. The reaction of the previously mobilized policemen to the crime on the spot was limited to inaction, or, in an unusual action, to local rescue, while no legal action was taken against the violent persons.

The students say that in recent days they and their family members have been subjected to telephone threats, attempts to intimidate, due to their use of freedom of assembly and expression, protest against the Russian law, which is also worrying.

We call on the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia to:

Due to the untimely response of the policemen mobilized on the spot, to initiate an investigation and respond effectively to the persecution/violence against the students on discriminatory grounds.

We call upon the administration of Tbilisi State University to:

To protect the right of peaceful assembly of students, to take measures to ensure their safety and to respond within the scope of their competence to the facts of violation of students' rights", said the statement of GYLA.