“Now, 36 years later, on the same day and on the same avenue where blood was shed for freedom, Georgians are once again standing in the streets,” – stated the fifth President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, in her address to the Senate of the Czech Republic.

“April 9 is a day of sorrow for every Georgian.

On this day in 1989, Russian soldiers and tanks entered the center of Tbilisi and brutally dispersed a peaceful demonstration calling for freedom and independence.

They used gas, batons, and extreme violence to break up the crowd, which was made up mostly of young people.

21 people were killed, many of them women. Hundreds more were injured.

But the message of that night did not disappear – it ignited a national movement and paved the way for Georgia to declare independence two years later,” said Zurabishvili.

She then asked members of the Czech Senate to observe a minute of silence in honor of the victims of April 9 and in solidarity with the youth of Georgia.

“But now, 36 years later, on the same day and on the same avenue where blood was shed for freedom, Georgians are once again standing in the streets.

For more than 140 days, they have been peacefully protesting against something just as dangerous – a silent coup against democracy and independence,” – Zurabishvili emphasized.