Georgian riot police dispersed a protest action in Tbilisi, using rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas.

Protest organizers said that about 80 demonstrators were arrested, but there were no immediate official figures. “The police had to use force, [because] part of the demonstrators resisted violently,” explained Georgia Interior Ministry spokesperson Shota Utiashvili, adding that policeman Vladimir Maskhurashvili and former policeman Nodar Tsadadze, 54, were killed.

According to Ministry of Internal Affairs, in total, 37 people were hospitalized, including nine policemen, a woman and a journalist, Novosti-Gruzia reports.

Opposition activist Temur Shashiashvili said rubber bullet struck film director Gogi Kavtaradze in forehead. He also said that the number of injured is greater, but still unknown. Georgian media reports that riot police are after people who are trying to escape. As it was reported earlier, a “passageway” was left for protesting people to leave the site of protest, permission for which expired on the night of May 26.