Georgian opposition to remove 'city of cells' after Biden visit

The Georgian opposition plans to remove the last remaining mock prison cells from downtown Tbilisi after the visit of U.S. vice president later this month, an opposition leader said on Monday.

TBILISI, July 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Georgian opposition plans to remove the last remaining mock prison cells from downtown Tbilisi after the visit of U.S. vice president later this month, an opposition leader said on Monday.

Joe Biden is expected to travel to Georgia and Ukraine on July 20-24 to hold talks with the former Soviet states' leaders and representatives of the opposition and civil society.

"The decision has already been taken. We will remove the 'cells.' But we will remove them during the mass action when we meet the U.S. vice president and show him where democratic society stands," Salome Zourabichvili of the Georgia's Way party said.

Mock jail cells were built outside the parliament building on Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue and across the Georgian capital in April to symbolize what the opposition called the country's descent into a 'police state.'

The move was part of the opposition's efforts to force the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili, who it blamed for last August's disastrous war with Russia and accused of failing to carry out democratic reforms.

The opposition started removing the other cells from Tbilisi in late May after receiving criticism from local residents and taxi drivers for blocking roads and creating traffic jams.

Opposition leaders said however that the criticism was orchestrated by the Saakashvili government.