Three opposition activists were attacked and beaten up by unknown men last night close to the protest venue outside the presidential residence. One of them was hospitalized, according to the Georgian media reports.

Meanwhile a singer and opposition support, Zurab Manjavidze, said that also last night he and his two brothers were attacked and physically insulted close to the protest venue on Rustaveli Avenue outside the Parliament.

Reports of isolated cases of attacks on opposition supporters and activists have been coming almost every day from the very first day of start of protest rallies on April 9. All these reported cases seem to have similar patterns with group of men attacking activists, mainly during the night time, not immediately on the protest venues, but on the nearby streets.

According to the Interior Ministry it is studying each allegation of that type. It said some of those reports were not confirmed, while investigation was ongoing on others.

A human rights advocacy group, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), said on April 13 that in at least one instance, the municipal police – Patrol Police – was nearby the reported attack site, but did not react. “We call on the Interior Ministry to provide security of participants of the demonstrations; to curb cases of violence and to immediately investigate each and every case,” GYLA said in a statement.