TBILISI, April 9, Georgia’s annual memorial for the victims of the April 9, 1989 Soviet crackdown turned tense on Thursday, as mourning ceremonies outside parliament were repeatedly interrupted by shouting and scuffles.
Citizens and activists spent the night at the April 9 memorial in central Tbilisi, where people gathered through the morning to honor the 21 people killed when Soviet troops broke up a peaceful protest there 37 years ago. The date also marks Georgia’s restoration of state independence on April 9, 1991.
A date filled with symbolic meaning, April 9 has often been used for staging political displays. This year, the memorial became an illustration of two very different views of the country’s recent history.
On one side were protesters, civil activists and relatives of people detained during recent pro-EU demonstrations. They treated the memorial as part of a broader protest movement and directed chants at the ruling authorities, calling them “Russians,” “slaves” and “traitors”. Protesters also removed the ribbon from a wreath brought in the name of parliament. Former President Salome Zourabichvili used the site to accuse Georgian Dream of “selling Georgia” and said the ruling party should not be coming to the memorial at all.
On the other side were government officials who came to lay wreaths and frame the day as one of solemn national remembrance. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili, President Mikheil Kavelashvili and cabinet members visited the memorial under police presence and left after chants from protesters. Later, Tbilisi city council chairman Zurab Abashidze, council members and deputy mayors were met with similar jeers.
A physical confrontation broke out near parliament after an unidentified man addressed protesters as “Nazis”, Interpressnews reported. Police intervened and, according to protesters, took one person away in a police vehicle. In another incident, activists said police detained a man who tried to remove flowers brought by government representatives. Later, Deputy Culture Minister Beka Davituliani got into a confrontation with activist Mariam Mekankishvili after she called him a traitor and a Russian slave. Interpressnews said Davituliani manhandled her before leaving the area, which was also apparent in a video published by Ekho Kavkaza.
Protesters consider the government pro-Russian and see it morally unfit to honor the victims of Soviet violence. Davituliani, speaking to media before his clash with the activist, said he had expected people to behave properly on a day of mourning and described what was happening there as a kind of mental disorder.
It added a somber tone to todays events when Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, came to the memorial and paid tribute to the dead. The Metropolitan, who is considered one of several potential candidates to become Georgia’s next Patriarch, was due to serve a memorial prayer later.
