{"id":424015,"date":"2024-11-30T15:42:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T15:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=424015"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Georgian-police-stage-new-crackdown-on-pro-EU-protestors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Georgian-police-stage-new-crackdown-on-pro-EU-protestors\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgian police stage new crackdown on pro-EU protestors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Georgian police on Friday fired water cannon and tear gas on\u00a0demonstrators, as thousands took to the streets for a second day to protest the government putting off EU membership talks.<\/p>\n

The Black Sea nation has been rocked by turmoil since the ruling Georgian Dream party declared victory in October parliamentary elections that the pro-EU opposition decried as falsified.<\/p>\n

In a televised address to the nation, pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili — at loggerheads with the ruling party — said: “The resistance movement has begun… I stand in solidarity with it.<\/p>\n

“We will remain united until Georgia achieves its goals: to return to its European path, secure new elections.”<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement Thursday that Georgia will not seek to open accession talks with the European Union until 2028 ignited a furious reaction from the opposition and two days of protests.<\/p>\n

On Friday, AFP reporters saw riot police fire water cannon and tear gas at pro-EU protesters gathered outside the parliament in Tbilisi who tossed eggs and fireworks.<\/p>\n

Clashes broke out later between protesters and police, who moved in to clear the area outside parliament, beating demonstrators, some of whom threw objects.<\/p>\n

Independent TV station Pirveli said one of its journalists covering the protest was hospitalised with serious injuries after police beat her and a cameraman.<\/p>\n

The interior ministry said two of its employees had been injured as “protestors verbally and physically assaulted police officers, throwing various objects and pyrotechnics in their direction”.<\/p>\n

“To de-escalate the situation, law enforcement officers have used special measures prescribed by law,” it said.<\/p>\n

AFP reporters saw a small fire on the street at the scene of the protest and two Molotov cocktails being thrown.<\/p>\n

– ‘Authoritarian’ –<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

In power for more than a decade, critics accuse Georgian Dream in recent years of having moved the country away from Europe and closer to Russia.<\/p>\n

Ahead of October’s elections, it pushed through legislation targeting independent civil society and curbing LGBTQ rights, drawing warnings from Brussels.<\/p>\n

“Georgian Dream’s self-proclaimed government is doing everything it can to destroy Georgia’s chances of joining the EU,” said one demonstrator, 39-year-old schoolteacher Laura Kekelidze.<\/p>\n

“They know their authoritarian rule is incompatible with EU membership,” she told AFP. “But Georgians belong in Europe, and that’s why we are out here in the streets today.”<\/p>\n

The former Soviet republic officially gained EU candidate status in December 2023. Polls say 80 percent of the population backs joining the bloc.<\/p>\n

But earlier this year, Brussels froze Georgia’s accession process, citing democratic backsliding.<\/p>\n

Opposition lawmakers have questioned the results of last month’s parliamentary elections, which gave Georgian Dream a majority.<\/p>\n

They are boycotting the new parliament, while President Zurabishvili has sought to annul the election results through the country’s constitutional court.<\/p>\n

– ‘Punitive attack’ –<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Protests were also held in other cities across Georgia on Friday, independent TV station Mtavari reported.<\/p>\n

At least four demonstrators were arrested in Georgia’s second-largest city, Batumi, local media reported.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, an AFP reporter saw riot police beating peaceful protesters and journalists at the demonstration.<\/p>\n

Police said 32 officers had been wounded then and 43 protestors detained “for disobeying lawful police orders and for petty hooliganism”.<\/p>\n

European nations and rights groups on Friday expressed concern over the situation.<\/p>\n

“Police actions in Tbilisi mark another punitive attack on the right to peaceful assembly,” Amnesty International said.<\/p>\n

France, Britain, Ukraine, Poland, Sweden and Lithuania were among the countries to voice concern.<\/p>\n

The Council of Europe condemned what it called the “brutal repression”, urging Georgia to remain “faithful to European values”.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Kobakhidze accused the opposition and the EU ambassador to Georgia of distorting his words, and insisted membership in the bloc “by 2030” remains his “top priority.”<\/p>\n

Georgian Dream MPs voted unanimously Thursday for Kobakhidze to continue as prime minister, even as the opposition boycotts parliament, which faces a serious legitimacy crisis.<\/p>\n

One author of Georgia’s constitution, Vakhtang Khmaladze, told AFP that any decisions made by the new parliament — including Kobakhidze’s nomination — are invalid, because it approved its own credentials in violation of a legal requirement to await a court ruling on Zurabishvili’s bid to annul the election results.<\/p>\n

im\/jc\/jhb<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Thousands have taken to the streets to protest the government’s decision<\/p>\n

-Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

The European Union has frozen Georgia’s accession process<\/p>\n

-Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

AFP reporters saw police masked police in riot gear deploy water cannon and tear gas on protesters who tossed eggs and fireworks<\/p>\n

-Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Brussels has frozen Georgia’s accession process, citing the need for Tbilisi to address what it says is democratic backsliding<\/p>\n

-Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

European capitals and rights groups on Friday expressed concern over the violent crackdown<\/p>\n

-Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

A journalist and cameraman were wounded in Friday’s protest in Tbilisi<\/p>\n

-Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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