MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - The dispersal of demonstrations in Tbilisi and Batumi are an utter violation of fundamental human rights and liberties, Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's envoy for human rights, democracy and rule of law, said.
"Such actions by the Mikheil Saakashvili regime cannot be seen other than as hampering the exercise by the public and the country's political forces of their statutory rights to the freedom of assembly and expression of opinions, enshrined in particular in the European Convention for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms," the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
"Unless the Georgian authorities discontinue their violent methods, this will lead to further escalation in relations between the authorities and the opposition and even greater destabilization of the general situation in the country," Dolgov said.
Such actions by Tbilisi show that behind their claims of caring about human rights, the authorities are "hiding their utter reluctance and fear to confront the reality: An ill-considered domestic and foreign policy of the country's leadership is facing an ever-increasing opposition on the part of their own population," Dolgov said.
"We believe that Georgia will eventually start to fully comply with the international obligations it has assumed in the field of human rights. We will continue closely monitoring the situation in this direction," he said.
It was reported earlier that on May 21 and 22 police in Tbilisi and Batumi clashed with protestors who demanded the resignation of the Georgian government and president. Some reports said police used batons and rubber bullets against protestors.
"It was with deep concern that we received this information," Dolgov said.