Public Movement Multinational Georgia and Nor Serund Union of Georgian Armenians have appealed to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, asking to take the investigation of the case of attack against a group of Armenians in Tsalka town under his personal control. As the Press Service of the Multinational Georgia Common Civil Movement union told PanARMENIAN.Net, a respective letter will be sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. Besides, Public Movement Multinational Georgia and Nor Serund NGOs demanded soonest possible exposure of the murder case, identification of those guilty and announcing their names, punishing them, as well as admitting representatives of the NGOs to the investigation.
To remind, On March 9, at about 06:00 p.m. local time, in the city of Tsalka (regional center of Kvemo-Kartli Region, Georgia) an armed attack was held against a group of young ethnic Armenians. An Armenian, 23-year-old Gevorg Gevorgyan, died in the hand-to-hand fight. The victims say, when they were getting into the car, unidentified people suddenly attacked them. Those attacking opened the door and slaughtered Gevorg Gevorgyan absolutely without a reason. They also injured other Armenians with knives. The victims say that most of those attacking spoke the Svan dialect of the Georgian language and that they did not know them or have not seen in Tsalka before. Besides, the armed attack did not have a cause – they had not even spoken to those people.
Outraged with the incident, Tsalka Armenians held a rally (some 500 persons) in front of the police building. They demanded a fair punishment for the murderers. The policemen batoned the protesting Armenians. Witnesses say that along with police, local criminal groupings took part in disseminating those gathered. Eyewitnesses say that March 10 special destination forces blocked roads, leading from Armenian villages to Tsalka, as well as took under control in fat all state institutions in the town.
