The police in Georgia violently dispersed the participants of the opposition protest near the parliament building in Tbilisi, using water cannons and pepper spray.
Points of attention
- The police in Georgia violently dispersed opposition protesters near the parliament building using water cannons and pepper spray.
- The government's refusal to negotiate on joining the EU has sparked mass protests and clashes between protesters and security forces, leading to human rights violations.
- The opposition condemned the violent crackdown and called for new protest actions against the government's rejection of European perspectives.
- President Zurabishvili pointed to Russian interference and criticized the unjust actions of the police during the protests.
- Numerous videos of journalists and activists being beaten during the protests have surfaced online, highlighting the escalation of tensions in Georgia.
What is happening against the background of protests in Georgia
It is noted that the protesters threw eggs and other objects at the security forces, clashes broke out.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia cynically stated that the protest violated the norms established by the law on assemblies and demonstrations.
Numerous videos of journalists and activists being beaten are published online.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, security forces detained 43 participants of the protests.
How the opposition reacts to the violent crackdown on protests
Representatives of the Georgian opposition called on citizens to gather for a new protest on Friday, November 29, against the government's decision to abandon negotiations on joining the EU.
According to one of the leaders of the united opposition "Yednist", the leader of the "Strategy Agmashenebeli" party Giorhiy Vashadze, on November 29 at 19:00 local time, a new protest will be held near the parliament.
We must push and break this system, this self-proclaimed regime that announced to us: forget about Europe, Russia is already here! Vashadze urged.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili reacted to the crackdown.
Zurabishvili commented on footage of protesters being detained, including in one of the pharmacies in Tbilisi. She noted that there is no safe place left in Georgia: neither in the churchyard, nor in the pharmacy, because everywhere the protesters are being "chased by robocops."
The Russian government, Russian methods, Zurabishvili noted.
#georgianprotests no safehaven in Georgia: church yard or pharmacy, robicops chase the participants everywhere to beat and arrest them… russian government, russian methods https://t.co/8haFBu3TSA
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) November 29, 2024
