Tbilisi and Batumi Protests Reach Day 659-660, Opposition Announces Sept. 27 March to Heroes Square

Demonstrators gathered outside the Parliament of Georgia and the Tbilisi city council building, and separately outside the Constitutional Court in Batumi, for the 659th and 660th consecutive days of protest, demanding the release of political prisoners, repeal of repressive legislation, a return to the Euro-Atlantic course, and new parliamentary elections. Placards read "Freedom for Georgia from Russophiles," "Collapse of the regime," and "How much longer will the people endure." A participant announced a mass march for Sept. 27, the Day of Protection of Sukhumi commemorating the city's 1992-93 fall during the Abkhazia war: demonstrators plan to gather at 19:00 at Tbilisi State University and march to Heroes Square to read the names of Georgians killed in the war.