Georgia's ruling party "Georgian Dream" intends to ban the use of masks at protests. According to the authorities, this should "prevent violence during rallies."
Points of attention
- Georgia's ruling party aims to ban the use of masks at protests to prevent violence.
- According to the Prime Minister of Georgia, the introduction of similar norms, as in EU countries, is necessary to ensure security.
- The opposition demands a number of political changes, while the government considers the raids and arrests of opposition leaders justified.
- Dispersal of protests in Tbilisi has created tension between the authorities and the opposition, prompting new demands and confrontations.
Georgian authorities will ban protesters from covering their faces
As stated by the Prime Minister of Georgia, Iraklii Kobakhidze, the relevant law will be adopted in the near future. According to him, similar regulations are already in force in many EU countries, and their introduction is necessary to ensure safety.
We will technically organize everything so that the law will be adopted by the end of next week and that it will come into effect by the end of the month, - said the Prime Minister.
He also condemned the attack on the film crew of the opposition TV channel "Pirveli", which was attacked by unknown masked men.
It is difficult to react in a situation when everyone is wearing masks. There is violence, and it is difficult for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to find out who is a participant in the protest and who is not, Kobakhidze added.
Dispersal of anti-government protests in Tbilisi: what is known
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia announced that 48 people were detained as a result of the crackdown on the protest action on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi on the night of December 7.
The department noted that the detained persons are accused of "petty hooliganism" and "disobedience to the police".
According to the media, Beka Korshia, a journalist of the opposition TV channel "Mtavari" is among those detained.
The oppositionists are directly addressing the founder and honorary chairman of "Georgian Dream" Bidzina Ivanishvili with demands, the fulfillment of which, in their opinion, is necessary to get out of the crisis in the country.
The opposition demands:
immediately release all political prisoners detained during the actions and stop all cases against them;
call for new parliamentary elections to be held by a new, independent electoral body, and ensure the political neutrality of law enforcement agencies.
The head of the government considers the mass roundups and arrests of opposition leaders and activists to be justified, claiming that in this way the authorities are eradicating "liberal fascism" from the country. Kobakhidze also called the statement of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken regarding the events in Georgia "disinformation".
