If the number of people gathered is not sufficient to block the street, they will not be allowed to do so—there will be enforcement of the law! We simply will not tolerate this anymore! This was stated by Tengiz Sharmanashvili, a deputy from the Georgian Dream party, to journalists.

He noted that the protesters’ actions in blocking the street violate the rules prescribed by law.

“This will be the enforcement of the law! Because we did not want the situation to escalate and had hopes that many of them would come to their senses and heed our warnings not to take unconstitutional steps, we did not fully enforce the law’s requirements.

The law states that blocking the street is permissible only when the number of people gathered is so large that they cannot fit on the sidewalk and spill over onto the roadway. Did we enforce this? No, we didn’t! The number of people was not sufficient, but we still did not instruct the protesters to move to the sidewalk and clear the way for vehicles.

We are not talking about repressions, but about enforcing the law—if the number of people gathered is not sufficient to block the street, they will not be allowed to do so. This law is not an invention of our government; it has been in place for a long time.

There will be no blackmail, nor repressions in the sense they talk about—there will be enforcement of the law. We simply will not tolerate this anymore!

We have seen that this category of people neither heeds warnings nor responds to calls to respect the law—of course, we will take appropriate legal steps,” Sharmanashvili stated.

For reference, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated on Rustavi 2 that “50-100 people who block the street are committing violence against 4 million people who want peace, tranquility, progress, and development.” According to Kobakhidze, these individuals will face consequences for this violence within the framework of the law. He also stated that these people deserve zero sympathy.