Georgian police raided the offices of an opposition party and arrested its leader in an apparent attempt to quell a wave of mass protests by the ruling party’s council. suspending negotiations on joining the European Union.
Protesters gathered on Wednesday night for the seventh consecutive night of protests against the police riots facing them using water cannons and teargas to disperse them in the preceding nights. Protesters threw torches at police officers and built barriers on the central boulevard of the Georgian capital.
The opposition Coalition for Change party said police raided its offices on Wednesday and detained its leader, Nika Gvaramia.
He published a video on X, showing that Gvaramia was thrown down several steps with his arms and legs. The party said Gvaramia, a 48-year-old media-turned-politician, “was put into car detention as he was physically assaulted and unconscious.” It could not have been known independently of Clodius.
Georgian media reported that the police also raided the offices of several other opposition groups and non-government organizations. Aleko Elisashvili, leader of the Force Georgia of the opposition party, the leader of the youth movement Dafioni protested, and at least six other members of the political opposition party were also detained.
He cited local media in the country’s interior as saying that seven people had been arrested on charges of “organization and leading a violent group,” an offense that carries up to nine years in prison.
The ministry said it had searched the homes of six people, and seized firearms, firearms, fireworks and cocktails.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the Georgian Dream Party said the raids were targeting those who had incited violence during the protests in an attempt to topple his government. I do not want to call this repression; it is more a measure of prevention than of repression,’ he says.
The governor of Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in the cabinet the election of October 26 was debatedwhich was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s EU aspirations. The opposition and the pro-Western president accused the ruling party of rigging the vote with the help and parliamentary sessions of neighboring Russia.
Mass protests against the vote have gained new momentum after the ruling party’s decision on Thursday to put an end to talks on EU custody. Around 300 people were detained and dozens, including protesters and police, were injured in clashes outside the parliament building in Tbilisi.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili refused to recognize the official election results and challenged them in the constitutional court, which rejected the appeal on Tuesday. Zourabichvili, who plays a largely ceremonial role, declared that he would remain in office even after six years later this month as the opposition called for new parliamentary elections.
Zourabichvili urged the country’s western allies to respond to Wednesday’s wave of police crackdowns on opposition groups by putting “pressure on the ruling party that is driving the country over the cliff!” “Don’t be late!” which he wrote on the social platform X.
The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on the condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations, but its accession to custody and cut financial aid in June after the passage of a “foreign influence” law was widely seen as a populist blow. liberties It requires organizations that receive more than 20% of their money from abroad to commit acts that “pursue the use of foreign power,” as Russian law used to disallow organizations critical of the government.
The Georgian government’s announcement of EU accession talks came hours after the European Parliament voted to criticize the October elections as neither free nor fair.
On Monday, the EU stressed its “serious concerns about the country’s continued popular alienation”.
Kobakhidze said on Tuesday that the government is willing to open its EU accession talks if it tries to end its “blackmail”.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report