A demonstration is underway in Chiatura on International Labour Day, with participants expressing solidarity with four detained miners and those on a hunger strike. As a show of support, local schools in Chiatura have suspended classes today, according to protest organizers.

Human rights activists and representatives of non-governmental organizations have arrived in Chiatura to support the miners, and local residents have also joined the protest.

During the rally, the miners claimed that a smear campaign was being waged against them. Protest speakers suggested that the director of the Shukruti Mine may have inflicted self-harm in an apparent attempt to justify arresting the protesters.

Law enforcement officers have been mobilized in the centre of Chiatura to monitor the situation.

Four individuals were arrested on charges of intentional infliction of minor bodily harm in connection with an incident that occurred in Chiatura on April 28. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, “the investigation established that the defendants physically confronted the director of the Shukruti Mine in Chiatura municipality, T.K., born in 1982, and inflicted injuries on various parts of the body.”

The trial of the four detained miners is scheduled to take place today at Kutaisi City Court, where the court will consider the imposition of preventive measures.