Brat's War

Brat’s War
Student uprisings of 2004 in Salikhia
(clockwise from top) Riots in the main streets of Mtavarangelozi Peaceful display of banners during the first days of the conflict A few arrests Mounted Guards marching on dissidents
Date	30 August 2004 - 22 September 2004
Location	Mtavarangelozi, Salikhia
Caused by	Increased university, school and transport fees, use of corporal punishment & mandatory uniforms, heavy 12-hour workloads in secondary schools, repression of student movements and banning of student associations.
Goals	Establishment of a public and secular education system, prohibition of physical punishment, abolition of legislation prohibiting student associations, reverse transport fare increases, etc.
Methods	Demonstration, rioting, looting, assault, shooting, arson, seizure of school buildings, armed confrontation
Resulted in	Uprising failure Salikh Army and various police forces violently shut down rebellions, at times even shooting at peaceful demonstrations Vandalism of public and private property, such as metro stations, squares, schools, monuments, etc. Mass arrests of supporters & disappearance of important faces through "commando operations” The Anarchist Faction of Salikhia is permanently banned, and all existing members arrested and charged with insurrection Implementation of the "Voucher System" in Mtavarangelozi as an experimental method International repudiation
Parties to the civil conflict
Several student organisations, mostly led by "Kvichaxxx” Anarchist Faction of Salikhia Salikh Ground Forces Mounted Guards of Salikhia KSS Salikh Federal Police Mtavarangelozi City Police Various local police agencies
Lead figures
Kvicha Petrovic Apollo Xipolitakis Miku Datunashvili Aleksei Shuguli Angeloz Kakhantiani Dapsos Uskhari Valerius Tsakhakis
Number
190,000 (estimated) 31,300
Casualties
5,302 killed 93,190 wounded* 18,781 missing 831 killed 5,129 wounded 206 missing
Salikhia considered all those who needed medical attention as "wounded”

Brat's War is the name given to a series of massive demonstrations and riots focused mainly on the city of Mtavarangelozi, which took place mainly between August and September 2004.

The triggering factor for this mobilisation was the infamous "Readjustment Decree", which established sharp increases in the prices of all public services in view of the rapid devaluation of the Lari that year. Throughout August, on the eve of the start of the school term in Salikhia, various criticisms of the decree were registered on various internet forums, including 4chan, the most relevant of them all for the development of the uprising. The first incitements involved mass evasions at the turnstiles of the city's public transport system, while some of the latter even proposed the overthrow of Miku Datunashvili. Initially, the accusations were decentralised and had no clear referent, by 14 August, Kvicha Petrovic (under the pseudonym 'kvichaxxx') published a report highlighting how the increases would leave the prices of all services at a much higher number than they were even before the devaluation, using the Euclo as a reference. Petrovic was a well-known 19-year-old columnist, associated with fellow Piraean-born Apollo Xipolitakis, 22, president of the newly founded Anarchist Faction of Salikhia.

Development

KSS

The KSS (National Secretariat of Commandos), commonly known as "the fumigators", was created on an experimental basis in the mid-1990s, but its first major appearance was at this event. Consisting mainly of small paramilitary squads, they were dedicated to the kidnapping, torture, interrogation, rape, murder and disappearance of political opponents, guerrillas, intellectuals, students suspected of collaboration and their families and contacts, as well as the running of clandestine detention centres.

Emblem of the agency

The KSS units were made up of both regular and rotating personnel, including military personnel of all ranks, from privates to senior officers such as Angeloz Kakhatiani, commander of the Air Force of Salikhia and head of the agency.

The KSS at the time was directly dependent on the forces in which they were based, and this was not necessarily the area where they operated. The squadron members had the prerogative over the property of the victims, being able to appropriate both their movable and immovable property as spoils of war.

Black "Min", commonly used in abductions, became a symbol of the KSS, even to this day

To guarantee impunity and the non-intervention of "legal" security forces (such as the police), they requested a permit known as "green light". Thus, if a family member, neighbour or building manager contacted the nearest police station, they were given a message along the lines of "we are aware of what you have described, but we cannot act at the moment". This institution was responsible for a large part of the almost 19,000 dissidents who disappeared during the uprising, many of whom are still unaccounted for to this day.