Hundreds of people have been arrested in Georgia after four nights of mass protests against the pro-Russian government. international

Months of peaceful protests against the Georgian government’s repressive stance have resulted in clashes with police on the streets of the country’s main cities. The Caucasus nation has been protesting for four consecutive days after the government announced it would suspend joining the European Union. According to the Interior Ministry, at least 44 people are being treated in hospital as a result of this Sunday’s clashes. According to images broadcast by official media, police indiscriminately used tear gas and water cannons against protesters, who in turn used flares and incendiary devices. At least 224 people have been arrested these days, including journalists and an opposition leader, who were released after a few hours.

By early November, the opposition was on a war footing and called for continued street demonstrations to protest “massive fraud” in the 26 October elections, in which Georgian Dream had re-validated its absolute majority. . With more support than expected. However, protests were waning until last week, when the government announced it was postponing the process of joining the EU until 2028 – more than 80% of the population supports this, according to polls – which led to a surge in enthusiasm. Is.

Sunday’s protests were the largest in recent memory, and in addition to Tbilisi, they spread to several cities across the country. Thousands gathered on Rustaveli Avenue in the capital and police had to take cover behind metal panels on the stairs to the parliament building, where protesters set off several fireworks. According to the Interior Ministry, about twenty officers were injured, as well as a large number of protesters, against whom police filed charges.

“Systematic beating”

“Most of the arrested protesters have head injuries, broken facial bones, open wounds. According to lawyers, they have been systematically beaten, even taken to overcrowded detention centers,” condemned Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, confronting the executive.

The protests in Tbilisi lasted until 6:30 am (three hours less than in mainland Spain), when riot police charged against barricades set up by protesters. The police chased the protesters throughout the center and even in the metro stations and repressed them harshly. Civil society organizations and the European Union have criticized police violence in recent days.

Among those detained was Zurab Japaridze, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, the opposition group that won the most support in the last elections. “Zurab and others were detained in Wake Park, which is five kilometers from Rustaveli Avenue. It seems that they are not going to be limited to the vicinity of the Parliament, but the repression is going to spread to the entire city. (The government) is becoming more brutal every night, and arresting an opposition leader is not an isolated incident,” Nino Dolidez of the Coalition for Change said in statements to EL PAÍS.

Within hours, Japaridze was released under immunity granted by his status as an elected MP. “The rest (of those detained) are under arrest and we hardly know anything about them,” said Dolidze, who claims to fear that repression against members of the opposition will intensify (ahead of the elections, Georgian Dream promised to outlaw several opposition parties).

Ironically, all opposition members, including Japaridze, have resigned from taking their seats and have asked the Election Commission to cancel their membership certificates, but Parliament has not yet officially taken note of these resignations. This is because, according to the Constitution, for the legislative body to have full powers, it must be recognized by at least two-thirds of the elected representatives, but Sueno Georgiano only has 89 seats out of 150. Therefore, the opposition considers all current parliamentary actions as illegitimate, including the re-election of the government that took place last week.

Priests have also joined the protests, a significant endorsement in a country where church influence runs deep and where church leaders have urged votes for the ruling party because of its ultra-conservative turn in recent years. Was. Cultural personalities were also there. “Three robocops

(The police officer) took me to a side street and asked me where my friends were. When I responded, one of them hit me on the head twice. Actress Natiya Banturi told the media, “My nose bled twice.” PublicaThe artist was one of dozens of people injured by police repression at the protests.

Support from big companies

Some big companies of the country have also expressed their support towards the protests. Among them are two large financial institutions, Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank; telecommunications companies Magticom and Silknet; construction giant Orbi; and Georgia’s largest automobile dealer, Tageta.

“There is no alternative to European integration for the Bank of Georgia. “Don’t stop on the way to Europe,” the financial entity announced on its social networks. “Orbi Group supports Georgia’s European future. “Reject violence, move towards Europe, Georgia will win!” The construction company announced.

Gina Romero, the United Nations special envoy for freedom of demonstration, condemned the violence used by police, while the OSCE, which validated the October elections, described the agents’ intervention as a “serious violation of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.” ” Said. ,

The Georgian Dream has tried to appease the population by turning towards Europe. “We are committed to European integration and we will continue on our path towards the European dream,” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said this weekend. However, his party maintains an impossible balance between the promises it makes to its population and the ties to the Kremlin of its founder and true shadow leader, tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili.

“Parallels” with Ukraine as of 2013.

In Russia and the Georgian Dream they see parallels between these protests and the Ukrainian Maidan demonstrations in 2013 and 2014, when then-President Viktor Yanukovych, under pressure from Moscow, suspended a recently signed free trade agreement with the EU. Due to which the transportation of goods was blocked and the army was deployed on its border. The wave of violence experienced on the Maidan would end with Yanukovych’s flight to Russia.

“Whatever happens in Georgia is Georgia’s internal matter,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. “Perhaps the most direct parallel is the events on the Maidan in Ukraine,” Putin’s communications chief said. According to Peskov, the Georgian authorities have the situation under control and Moscow “does not intend to intervene” in a crisis that, along with the recent blow to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, compromises the Kremlin’s influence in two important areas. Does. Russia.

The Georgian government has also created another groundswell of fear to justify its recent foreign agent law, which makes it difficult for NGOs to operate in the country and journalists to reveal their sources by forcing them to reveal their names. Puts you in danger. “There is a coordinated and pre-planned strategy with foreign financing,” Kobakhidze said of the Georgian protests. “This is why some individuals opposed the transparency law. “This is how revolutionary processes in Georgia can be financed opaquely,” he said.

Three countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, aware of the threat from neighboring Russia, have approved sanctions against the Georgian government and urged the rest of the EU to follow their footsteps. “The three Baltic countries have jointly agreed to impose sanctions against those who repress legitimate Georgian opposition. Opponents of democracy and violators of human rights are not welcome in our countries,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said in his account. x,

The new head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, has condemned the violence used against protesters. The bloc’s foreign policy high representative admits that EU members are in disagreement when it comes to adopting measures against Tbilisi. “We have different options, but we have to reach an agreement,” the Estonian politician said this Sunday.