John Bass - There were Excesses in the Aftermath of the Disruption of the Protest

U.S. Ambassador to Georgia John Bass commented about last week’s protest and the subsequent developments.

John Bass told InterPressNews that he finds suggestions that he gave green light to the government about disruption of protest unfounded.

“I’m aware of suggestions that I somehow gave a green light to the government to proceed in the manner it did. I find those allegations unfounded and frankly lacking in a study of what I actually said”, John Bass said.

John Bass said that U.S. is not supporting a specific person or party in Georgia but people of this country.

“The United States supports people of this country, we are not looking for a specific outcome, we are not supporting a specific person or party in Georgia’s democratic evolution, we are supporting the development of strong legitimate institutions and electoral systems in processes”, he said.

“I said before that the protest was broken up and after that we strongly believe that democratic societies must include the right to peacefully protest and the right of citizens to express their views freely, however I also said that it doesn’t mean that those rights come without any responsibility at all and the people can protest whenever and wherever they want and the government has a responsibility for maintaining public order”, ambassador said.

John Bass says that “protesters were offered an opportunity to protest somewhere else, they declined to do that. There was clear evidence of people in that crowd who were looking for violence and I found that concerning”.

It’s clear that there were excesses in the aftermath of the disruption of the protest, U.S. ambassador John Bass told InterPressNews.

“There was clear evidence of people in that crowd who were looking for violence and I found that concerning. But I’ve also said and we are repeating here today that it’s clear that there were excesses in the aftermath of the disruption of the protest and I’m concerned by the reports I’ve seen both of people missing, but more importantly the reports of people like the ombudsmen, who are describing instances in which people may have been beaten after they had stopped resisting. They may have been beaten in detention and I think it’s very important for the credibility of this government going forward that they address those allegations and reports seriously and conduct a serious investigation. Because that’s the only way over time people in this society will increase their confidence in the responsibility and objectivity of government”, John Bass said.