TBILISI. May 7 (Interfax-AVN) - Dozens of people, injured in clashes in the square near the Georgian Interior Ministry's headquarters in Tbilisi on Wednesday evening, have been taken to various hospitals.
The hospitals have switched to an emergency mode of work.
The chief physician of the Gudushauri National Surgery Center told the press that 17 injured people had been admitted to the center, among them journalists and several opposition leaders.
Another 15, including several opposition leaders, were taken to the republic clinical hospital. Most of the injuries were inflicted with blunt objects, deputy chief physician Irakly Rukhadze said.
Twenty-two opposition activists, one journalist and six police officers were injured in an incident near the Tbilisi police headquarters and they were taken to hospitals.
Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili has denied assertions by opposition leaders that riot policemen fired rubber bullets at opposition supporters near the Interior Ministry's Tbilisi headquarters.
"Riot police did not use rubber bullets. The injuries were inflicted on opposition leaders and their supporters with truncheons after they attempted to break into the building," Utiashvili said on Utsnobi radio.
Opposition activists threw stones at police, injuring several policemen, he claimed.
Meanwhile, the opposition Georgian TV stations Kavkasia and Maestro aired videos showing unarmed people attacked with rubber and plastic bullets.