Georgian police arrest over 100 at anti-government protest (VIDEOS)
Police detained several dozen protesters at demonstrations in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Friday night during unrest that ensued after opposition parties denounced the government’s decision to freeze Georgia’s EU accession talks.
According to a statement released on Saturday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, at least 107 activists have been detained “for disobedience” and “petty hooliganism.”
Crowds of protesters have been flocking to Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue since Thursday evening, when Georgia’s French-born president, Salome Zourabichvili, accused the country’s ruling Georgian Dream party of declaring “war” on its own people by postponing EU accession negotiations until 2028.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said earlier on Thursday that his government does not renounce the goal of joining the bloc eventually, but won’t take steps to do it now. He accused Brussels of using the talks to meddle in Georgian politics, saying that the country should not bow to “constant blackmail and manipulation” from EU officials.
According to the authorities, during Friday’s protests activists launched fireworks, erected makeshift barricades, set dumpsters on fire, and damaged the entrance gate to the parliament building and video surveillance cameras in the vicinity. The statement noted that protesters had been repeatedly warned to follow Georgia’s assembly and demonstration law, but blatantly disobeyed police commands to keep the rally peaceful and “verbally and physically” assaulted officers. At least ten officers have reportedly been injured as a result of the protesters’ actions.
Earlier reports claimed that some 150 more protesters were detained following Thursday’s demonstrations.
Rallies have been taking place in Georgia since late last month, when Georgian Dream secured victory in parliamentary elections. The party, which advocates pragmatic relations with all of Georgia’s neighbors, including Russia, won a majority with nearly 54% of the vote. However, both the opposition and Zourabichvili refused to recognize the results, claiming the election was rigged despite international observers finding no significant violations.
The EU granted Georgia candidate status in late 2023, but relations between Brussels and Tbilisi soured this year when the latter adopted two laws the bloc saw as controversial. One requires NGOs that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as foreign agents, while the other bans the dissemination of LGBTQ propaganda.
Earlier this week, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the elections as “neither free nor fair” and called for them to be re-run within a year. The MPs also stated that Georgian Dream’s policies are incompatible with the country’s EU integration.
Kobakhidze on Saturday blamed EU politicians and their agents in the country for the violence in Tbilisi.
“The main responsibility for yesterday’s violent rally lies with the relevant European politicians and bureaucrats, with local agents, the fifth column, which is represented by four opposition parties,” he said at a briefing, expressing gratitude to police officers who prevented an “attack on the constitutional order in the country” by dispersing the protests.
