Georgian Dream’s Mtskheta meeting participants were called by police

Vakho Chincharauli , Mtskheta-Mtianeti Information Centre.

Georgian Dream activists that hold meeting in Mtskheta were called by police officers to come to police station. Georgia Dream Dusheti headquarter chief officer Dodo Chokheli said that the director of Kvesheti village public school, Kamila Khevsurishvili is threatening to expel the children who support Georgian Dream.

“After participating in the meeting we had several problems. Participants were summoned to the police station where they asked for our ID cards.  We were called to Pasanauri by inspector” – Kvesheti resident Zura Burduli told Mtskheta – Mtianeti Information Centre.

He added that after participating in the meeting, the director of the school in Qvesheti called parents and told them to bring their ID cards to school.

“Qvesheti school director Kamila Khevsurishvili said that if you don’t bring your ID cards, then the police will come and get them. She said the ID cards were needed for school. I don’t know what the connection is between police and education; it’s probably for threatening people.  I was also pressured. My brother works in Gudauri and the director called him and said that if any of his family members would ever participate as activists on behalf of Georgian Dream, he would lose his job. Right now he’s still employed, but nobody knows what will happen in the future” – said Zura Burduli.

Iago Bedoidze, resident of Bedoni village: “the school director told us to bring our passports. I won’t give my passport or anything. Why didn’t they ask me before I went to the meeting? My oldest child has been in school for three years. My second girl Mariam started first grade. They promised that they would give her books, but no books were given - not even a notebook or a pen. And I am also socially unprotected person.”

- Did they threaten you with something, if you don’t bring documents?

- Yes when we didn’t go, they told us to bring our passports to the police station. Jinvali police station had called. The reason for this must be that I participated in the meeting because nothing like this has ever happened before. The day after the meeting they asked for our passports, and before that nobody had thought about it – not the school director and not the police.

Dodo Chokeli, head of the Dusheti headquarter of Georgian Dream also says that the police are looking for those people who participated in the meeting.

“ They have serious problems. I was in Kvesheti and all residents who participated in the meeting were told to go to the police station. Then I got information from Kvesheti that there was systematic pressure from Kamila Khevsurishvili. She was calling the children and parents who participated in the meeting. She used threats, such as expelling children from school, and said that she would inform government representatives and that this would leave them without social benefits. She finds people’s weaknesses and use them as leverage. “– said Dodo Chokheli.

The Kvesheti school director did not deny the fact that she had asked parents to bring their ID cards, but did not give a reason for doing so. She did not comment on the accusations against her of having threatened to expel children whose parents support the opposition.