Georgian Protesters Sabotage Saakashvili’s National Address

Hundreds of the Georgian president’s opponents blocked the entrance to the National Library in Tbilisi on Friday, preventing Mikhail Saakashvili from delivering his annual State of the Nation address, Georgian TV stations reported. The protesters, who demanded Saakashvili’s resignation, gathered at the entrance, saying they wanted the embattled Georgian leader to pass through the so-called “hallway of shame.” According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, some 200 protesters were former political prisoners arrested for participating in protest actions staged by Georgia’s opposition between 2005 and 2011. They were released on amnesty in January. When Saakashvili failed to appear, protesters attacked members of the president’s United National Movement (UNM) party and Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava, preventing them from entering the building. “The president decided to give a televised address, and not to come to the library, to avoid civil unrest. He will give the address at 8 p.m. (4 p.m. GMT) local time from his residence,” Saakashvili's spokesperson Manana Mandzhgaladze told journalists on Friday.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_09/Georgian-protesters-sabotage-Saakashvili-s-national-address/
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/saakashvili-speech-venue-protests-18443077
http://www.lenta.ru/articles/2013/02/09/library/