One of the four leading opposition parties in Georgia announced today that the police raided its premises and beat and arrested its leader, in the midst of mass protests caused by the ruling Georgian Dream party's decision to suspend accession negotiations with the European Union (EU).
The opposition party Coalition for Change announced that the police in Tbilisi knocked its leader Nika Gvaramia to the ground and took him away while he was unconscious, Reuters reports.
The party posted a video on IX showing several men carrying Gwarami, a 48-year-old lawyer, down the stairs, holding him by the arms and legs.
Reuters states that it could not independently verify whether Gvaramia was beaten or not, and adds that the video shows that he did not move as he was carried down the stairs.
The Coalition for Change announced that several more members of that party were detained with Gvaramija, while the United National Movement, also an opposition party, told Reuters that the police raided the party's premises today and arrested five of its members.
The Interpres news agency announced that the police detained two members of the opposition party Strong Georgia, and Georgian media reported that the leader of the Georgian youth protest movement, Dafioni, was also arrested.
Over the past six nights, police have used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters, who fired fireworks at police and set up barricades on Tbilisi's central boulevard. More than 300 protesters have been detained since Thursday, and more than 100 have received medical treatment for injuries.
Asked at a press conference about claims that the government is repressing the opposition, Prime Minister Irakli Kobahidze said: "I wouldn't call it repression, it's more prevention."
Without offering evidence, Kobahidze said that the opposition forces "systematically supplied" the demonstrators with pyrotechnics and other means, which were later used to attack the police.
The government's decision to suspend negotiations with the EU caused a political crisis in the country of 3,7 million people. Critics accuse the government of turning its back on the West and of being increasingly committed to an authoritarian and pro-Russian course, which the ruling party denies.
The pro-European president of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, who supported the protest movement, wrote today on IX that she "urgently calls on partners and those who want to prevent the deepening of the crisis to exert strong pressure on the ruling party that is leading the country into the abyss", telling them not to be late ".
The public ombudsman of Georgia, a former opposition politician, yesterday accused the police of abusing people detained during the demonstration, assessing that the actions of the policemen constituted a form of torture.
The ruling Georgian Dream party retained control of parliament in the Oct. 26 election, seen by many as a referendum on Georgia's bid to join the Union. The opposition and President Zurabishvili accused the ruling party of stealing the election with the help of Russia.
The mass protests of the opposition, which broke out due to the outcome of the elections, gained new momentum after last week's decision of the ruling party to suspend negotiations with the EU.
The EU conditionally granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023, but suspended financial support to the country in June due to the adoption of the Law on Foreign Agents, which many see as a blow to democratic freedoms. According to that law, all non-governmental organizations that receive more than 20 percent of funds from abroad must register as foreign agents.
The Georgian government's announcement of the suspension of negotiations with the EU came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution stating that the October elections were neither free nor fair. On Monday, the EU reiterated its "serious concern over Georgia's continued democratic backsliding," according to the Associated Press.
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