TBILISI, Georgia—A well-known opposition figure was taken into custody by Georgia police early Monday after they used tear gas and water cannon to disperse anti-government demonstrators who had gathered outside Parliament for the fourth consecutive night.
The government’s declaration last week that it was halting negotiations to join the European Union sparked the protests. That was interpreted by critics as evidence of a move away from pro-Western policies, which the ruling party disputes, that was influenced by Russia.
One of its leaders, Zurab Japaridze, was arrested by police as he was leaving the demonstration, according to a post on X by the Coalition for Change, the biggest opposition group in the nation.
Police in masks were seen on camera putting Japaridze in an unmarked car. Whether or not he would face any charges was unclear.
Georgia, a 3.7 million-person nation at the meeting point of Europe and Asia that was formerly a part of the Soviet Union, has been criticized by the US and the EU for what they see to be a democratic reversal.
Former President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Sunday that Georgia was swiftly heading toward the dark abyss along the Ukrainian road, adding: “Usually this sort of thing ends very badly.” Russia denies meddling in its neighbor’s affairs.
Protesters reassembled on Rustaveli Avenue in the heart of Tbilisi on Sunday evening. Police retaliated with volleys of water cannon and tear gas when some people threw pyrotechnics at them.
One of the protesters, Nikoloz Miruashvili, stated, “I’m here for a very simple reason, to defend my European future and the democracy of my country.”
Eventually, police dispersed the protesters from the parliament building, ending the stalemate.
According to Georgia’s interior ministry, 113 police officers have been injured since the start of the disturbance, including 21 during the overnight demonstration. Irakli Kobakhidze, the prime minister, charged that the opposition was planning acts of organized violence to topple the constitutional order.
Since the start of the most recent protests, dozens of demonstrators have also been hurt, and the US has denounced what it described as the excessive use of police force.
Pro-EU leader Salome Zourabichvili, who supports the demonstrators, reported that many of those detained had been beaten, resulting in facial and head injuries.
“This is a national uprising,” she told France Inter, a French news outlet.
In protest of the decision to halt negotiations with the European Union and cease receiving any funding from the bloc for four years, hundreds of diplomats and public servants have written open letters. Georgia has lost at least four ambassadors.
In an Instagram post, martial arts fighter Ilia Topuria, who has a sizable fan base in the nation, stated: I disagree with the decision to end our accession talks to the European Union. The treatment of Georgia’s youngsters makes me feel ashamed. Freedom is not what this is.
Zourabichvili has demanded that the Constitutional Court be pressured to void the October elections that the ruling Georgian Dream party won. Zourabichvili and the opposition both claim the poll was rigged.
Because the assembly that will select her successor is illegitimate, Zourabichvili, whose authority is primarily ceremonial, says she will not step down when her tenure ends this month.
The vote was fair, according to the election commission. Zourabichvili will have to leave the presidential palace at the end of the month, according to Prime Minister Kobakhidze, who indicated on Sunday that he was responding emotionally to the opposition’s election loss.
Since the ruling party in Georgia approved legislation restricting LGBT rights and imposing restrictions on foreign agents, tensions have been rising for months. Georgian Dream claims that it is taking action to keep the West from entangling the nation in a conflict with Russia and to protect its sovereignty from outside meddling.
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