Open letter from HK, international coordinator of miners, to Merab Saralidzes and the three other miners imprisoned in Georgia
- Details
- Created: Tuesday, 14 October 2025 22:42
- Hits: 2
Dear Merab, dear friends and colleagues, We have received and read the appeal to the miners from friends. It testifies to the courage, determination and integrity of the Chiatura miners in their struggle. This appeal also applies to miners around the world, and we should take it to heart and learn from each other. The delaying tactics and procrastination on the part of Georgia Manganese, the government and the courts are unacceptable, and you are absolutely right to criticise this.
As a member of the German delegation, which was made up of German miners and workers, I came in March 2025 as a miner who wanted to express his support and that of miners from all over the world in concrete terms, and we left as friends and brothers. They have always tried to demoralise, disorganise, confuse and criminalise the struggling miners. So far, they have not succeeded, because the miners and their families have gathered every day to discuss how to proceed. This was and is a guarantee of success and unshakeable solidarity.
This appeal shows that the miners of Chiatura will not give in to pressure, even if some of their specific demands are not met.
You say: ‘If we all serve the common cause, everyone's work will be fulfilled. If we separate, if we distance ourselves from each other, we will easily break and in the end we will all suffer’ – that is exactly how we see it too. In other countries, too, we miners are under attack, and several thousand of us are threatened with dismissal. It is high time that we miners unite internationally in our struggle!
Your struggle is therefore also part of the struggle of the international working class and, at the same time, a struggle against political oppression.
With this in mind, we also demand that the court and the public prosecutor's office immediately withdraw the unjustified charges against you four miners and release you immediately!
We have confidence in your strength and the support of your families and friends.
You can definitely count on our unwavering solidarity. Here, too, we will find ways to increase public pressure.
With militant and solidarity greetings,
International Miners' Coordination Group (ICG)
Eugene Badibanga, Fathi Mohamed and Andreas Tadysiak, main coordinator of the International Miners' Coordination, miner and member of the German delegation in Chiatura
Translated with deepl