More than 200 people have been detained after four nights of protests in the Georgian capital over the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union (EU).
The demonstrations came after the EU lambasted Georgia’s parliamentary elections.
The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the poll on October 26th, widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the EU, has sparked mass demonstrations, with the opposition boycotting parliament.
The opposition and the country’s pro-western president also accused the vote of being rigged with Moscow’s help.
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Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament for the fourth night on Sunday. Some protesters threw fireworks at police who responded by deploying tear gas and water cannon.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry said on Monday that 224 protesters were detained on administrative charges and three arrested on criminal charges.
So far, 113 police officers needed medical treatment while three others were taken to hospital.
Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili said that many of the arrested protesters had injuries to their heads and faces, including broken bones and eye sockets.
Writing on X and citing lawyers who represent the detained, she said some people were subject to systematic beatings between arrest and transportation to detention facilities.
Ms Zourabichvili holds a largely ceremonial role and is due to step down at the end of the year. She has indicated she will remain in her post until another president is chosen by a “legitimate” parliament.
Ahead of Sunday’s protest, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of Georgian Dream warned that “any violation of the law will be met with the full rigor of the law”.
He said: “Neither will those politicians who hide in their offices and sacrifice members of their violent groups to severe punishment escape responsibility.”
Mr Kobakhidze insisted it was not true that Georgia’s European integration had been halted. “The only thing we have rejected is the shameful and offensive blackmail, which was, in fact, a significant obstacle to our country’s European integration.”
The government’s announcement to suspend the EU membership process came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticising October’s election in Georgia as neither free nor fair.
Mr Kobakhidze also dismissed the US state department’s statement on Saturday which announced the suspension of its strategic relationship with Georgia and condemned the decision to halt its efforts toward EU accession.
“You can see that the outgoing (US) administration is trying to leave the new administration with as difficult a legacy as possible. They are doing this regarding Ukraine, and now also concerning Georgia,” Mr Kobakhidze said.
“This will not have any fundamental significance. We will wait for the new administration and discuss everything with them.”
He also confirmed that Georgia’s ambassador to the US, David Zalkaliani, had become the latest of a number of diplomats to stand down since the protests started.
The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas spoke to President Zourabichvili on Sunday to condemn the violence against protesters and to note that “the actions of the government run counter to the will of the people”, Mr Costa wrote on X.
Also on Sunday, Ms Kallas and EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos released a joint statement.
“We note that this announcement marks a shift from the policies of all previous Georgian governments and the European aspirations of the vast majority of the Georgian people, as enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia,” the statement said.
It reiterated the EU’s “serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding of the country” and urged Georgian authorities to “respect the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and refrain from using force against peaceful protesters, politicians and media representatives”.
The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations but put its accession on hold and cut financial support earlier this year after the passage of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.
Georgian Dream has increasingly adopted repressive laws mirroring those in Russia which crack down on freedom of speech and curtail LGBTQ+ rights.
A law banning same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex couples and public endorsement and depictions of LGBTQ+ relations and people in the media came into force on Monday.
Speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday, Ms Zourabichvili said that her country was becoming a “quasi-Russian” state and that Georgian Dream controls the major institutions.
“We are not demanding a revolution. We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again,” Ms Zourabichvili said.