TBILISI, July 1 (RIA Novosti, Marina Kvaratskhelia) - The Georgian opposition has started a demonstration against the incumbent authorities in the center of Tbilisi.
About 60 supporters of three opposition parties, New Right, and the Republican and Conservative parties, from two Georgian regions gathered in the capital's center. Police have not yet made any attempts to disperse the demonstration.
Opposition leaders have not arrived at the demonstration, which is being held under the slogan: Politics Without Violence.
The protesters are demanding that President Mikhail Saakashvili dismiss Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili. They say that Merabishvili provoked turmoil in Tbilisi last night, after he ordered police to use force against demonstrators in the capital.
Opposition representative Lasha Natsvlishvili said: "The opposition plans to return the situation to normal politics and does not intend to escalate it with illegal actions."
On Thursday, the Georgian Supreme Court ruled that Aleko Davitashvili, president of the Georgian Wrestling Federation, and a World Champion silver medallist, Georgy Revazishvili, could be held in custody for three months on charges of extorting $8,000 from a Greek businessman.
After the ruling, the athletes' supporters created chaos in the courtroom and took to the streets of Tbilisi. They blocked Tbilisi's central street, Rustaveli Avenue. Riot police arrived to disperse the protesters. Some of them were injured.
