Georgians protesting the government’s decision to delay European Union membership talks clashed with security forces outside parliament in the capital Tbilisi on Saturday evening.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets for the third night in a row. The protests, which have seen over a hundred arrested, have been the biggest since the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in October’s contested parliamentary elections.
What happened at the protests?
Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and used water cannons in an effort to disperse the rallies. Protesters outside parliament used fireworks, with flames reportedly seen coming out of a parliament building window.
Some of the protesters set up barricades on Tbilisi’s main avenue. Others on the steps of parliament burned an effigy of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Dream party’s founder and Georgia’s richest man.
“I am afraid — I won’t hide it — that many people will get injured, but I am not afraid to stand here,” 39-year-old Tamar Gelashvili told the French AFP news agency near the parliament building earlier in the day.
The Interior Ministry said that “the actions of some individuals present at the protest became violent shortly after the demonstration began.”
“Police will respond appropriately and in accordance with the law to every violation,” it said.
Protests also took place in various other cities across Georgia.
Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze had accused the pro-EU opposition of plotting a revolution, while the State Security Service said political parties were trying to “overthrow the government by force.”
EU membership is a highly popular goal in the former Soviet republic. Tbilisi is flooded with EU flags, often placed by residents at their own windows.
“The people of Georgia are trying to protect their constitution, trying to protect their country and the state, and they are trying to tell our government that rule of law means everything,” protester Tina Kupreishvili told the Reuters news agency outside parliament.
rmt/wd (AFP, Reuters)
