Georgian interior minister justifies special operations in Tbilisi night clubs by numerous cases of drug intoxication
TBILISI. May 14 (Interfax) - Special anti-drug operations conducted in Tbilisi night clubs on May 11, following which the youth gathered for a protest rally, were warranted, Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia said.
"The decision to enter night clubs was adopted due to instances of drug intoxication among their visitors. A total of 48 ambulance calls from those night clubs were recorded in the past two weeks. This is why the Interior Ministry had to take this step," Gakharia told reporters on Monday following a meeting with organizers of a Tbilisi rally, participants in which had demanded that state's drug policy be liberalized.
During a meeting with organizes of the rally, the parties agreed on a common platform: the fight against drugs and drug dealers must be carried out together, he said.
Beka Tsikarishvili, a participant in a meeting with the minister and an organizer of the protest rally, told reporters that participants in the rally are ready to cooperate with the authorities in the fight against drug dealers and in terms of liberalizing the drug policy.
"But if we feel that this cooperation is just a formality, we will resume protest rallies," Tsikarishvili said.
Another meeting of representatives of the protesting youth and the interior ministry is planned in the next few days.