Anyone is able to express his/her peaceful protest and this is one of our greatest achievements in the last 6-7 years, – Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze told reporters.

“We live in a legal state and everyone’s human rights are protected in Georgia. Anyone is able to express his/her peaceful protest and this is one of our greatest achievements in the last 6-7 years. We have clearly demonstrated this. However, violation of the law, especially what we saw yesterday, aggression against our law enforcers is totally unacceptable and will be adequately responded.

Truly patriot people live in the Pankisi Gorge, they are citizens of our country and I would like to address them with great respect: We have never carried out any project in any region, settlement or village without consultation and dialogue with our citizens – this is characteristic of our government and you know that the dialogue continues.

I would like to express my gratitude to the law enforcers because they once again demonstrated high professionalism and restraint. In my opinion, restraint is an indicator of very high professionalism,” Bakhtadze said.

Locals of Pankisi Gorge who are protesting against the construction of a hydro-electric power plant in the region clashed with the Special Task Squad on April 22. About 40 people were injured.