Vake Park 2014-01-19

Vake Park protests in 2014 (DFWatch)

TBILISI, DFWatch–On Wednesday, after a two-year-long legal dispute, Tbilisi City Court revoked the construction permit for Budapest Hotel, which is planned to be built in Vake Park in Tbilisi, journal Liberali  reported.

Wednesday’s ruling concerned a lawsuit filed jointly by the activist group Guerrilla Gardening Tbilisi, Zurab Bakradze, Temur Kalandadze and the organization Green Alternative.

Several other lawsuits were also been filed in early 2014. For the last two years, activists have been trying to halt the construction of the hotel. The decision to allow construction of a hotel in a public space by a private company sparked rallies in front of Tbilisi City Hall and protests in Vake Park itself, with activists occupying the park day and night.

DF Watch contacted Guerrilla Gardening for a comment.

“Today, the court revoked the construction permit and directed the case back to the Tbilisi City Hall for reconsideration. We demand from the City Hall not to issue a new construction permit and to return the territory which was allocated for construction to Vake Park,” activist and volunteer Mariam Bakradze said.