changed little during these days. On 28 December, the Georgians had made a breakthrough when a force of 3,500 instructed by Mazniashvili overtook Shulaver, as well as a number of smaller villages. The Armenians suffered 200 casualties. Over the next two days, the Armenians and Georgians fought over Sadakhlu, which changed hands several times. Eventually the two armies entrenched themselves in a stalemate, with the Armenians in station and Georgians in the town. The final confrontations took place on 31 December, before the ceasefire would come into effect at midnight. The Armenians made strategic gains at their center and right columns, but the typhus-infected left column was pushed back. Late in the afternoon, Armenian soldiers outflanked the Georgians and took the eastern heights of Sadakhlu. In addition, the Armenians had also cut the railway leading Shulaver in Mamai. At the end of the day, both armies were situated along irregular lines. The north, south, and east of Sadakhlu were controlled by the Armenians, while the Georgians had advanced a considerable distance southwest of the village. Persecution of Armenians in Georgia Throughout the war, Armenians in Georgia were heavily persecuted, and many were arrested without cause. Several organisations were shut down, including charities for refugees and orphans. Armenian newspapers were banned, and members of the Tiflis City Council with Armenian background were arrested. The governor of Tiflis proclaimed that every Armenian civilian was a technical prisoner-of-war. Many of the arrested Armenians were extorted and threatened with execution if they refused. Ransom prices varied between 50 to 50,000 rubles. Even after the ceasefire had been declared, thousands of arrests were made on 5 January 1919. In January 1919, hundreds of arrested Armenian civilians were marched to Kutaisi, where they were paraded as prisoners-of-war. Georgia had actually captured few Armenian soldiers during the war. The parades were meant to prove the Georgian government's official narrative of the war as being an astonishing Georgian victory. The persecutions were even more severe in villages outside Tiflis. In the village of Bolnis-Khachen, Georgian militias committed several acts of murder, rape and looting. Armenian peasants had been robbed of grain, crops, fabrics, livestock and various other possessions. Several homes were also destroyed. In Belyi-Kliuch, Georgian soldiers went to an orphanage demanding women. After not finding any, the Georgians instead raped prepubescent girls. They returned to the same orphanage a few days later to commit more rapes. Appeals