TBILISI, June 15 (RIA Novosti) - A total of 39 Georgian opposition demonstrators were detained on Monday during a clash with police near the Interior Ministry, Deputy Interior Minister Eka Zguladze said.
"During the rally police officers spotted three suspects in the recent attack on the speaker of the parliament," she said. "Unfortunately, the crowd of young people refused to cooperate and rendered resistance. The arrest grew into a physical clash."
Last week, the opposition staged a protest near the Georgian parliament ahead of the first parliamentary session in two months of ongoing protests. Protesters threw eggs at the parliament and the speaker's car, poured water on two lawmakers and physically attacked one of them.
The Interior Ministry has sought fines most of the detainees, but some of them face up to 30 days in detention.
The deputy interior minister also officially apologized to journalists over the recent police violence, in which a cameraman and another employee of the Kavkasia TV station were severely beaten, and their camera and tapes were taken away. Two cameras were also seized from journalists of another opposition TV channel, Maestro.
Both companies suspended broadcasting in protest over the incident.
"The incident with the reporters is our mistake and the Interior Ministry acknowledges it," she said, adding that the cameras have already been returned to the owners.
President Mikheil Saakashvili also expressed his regrets over the incident and urged law enforcement bodies to prevent similar incidents in the future.
"Law-enforcement agencies should also abide by [the law]," the president said.
Opposition leaders have already announced a 24-hour rally in front of the parliament to protest the violence.
"We will stay here all night long to prevent revenge from [parliamentary speaker David] Bakradze, [lawmaker Gia] Tortladze and [Interior Minister Vano] Merabishvili," said Eka Beselia, an opposition leader.
Beselia also demanded the release of the 39 detained activists and a meeting with representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, saying that their "provocative statement," that condemned the protests, allegedly triggered further police violence.
Commenting on the last week's incident near the Georgian parliament, the U.S. Embassy said that opposition activists had crossed the line between the freedom of speech and illegal activities in their attacks on lawmakers.
Fourteen non-parliamentary opposition parties and political organizations have been protesting in Georgia since April 9 demanding that Saakashvili resign over last August's disastrous war with Russia and his failure to carry out democratic reforms.
