On Friday night, protesters besieged Georgia's parliament for the second time in recent days, with some attempting to break through the metal fence around the building. Police used water cannons to push people back and forced them back along Rustaveli Street, which was closed to traffic and surrounded by police cars.
Demonstrators set up barricades using trash cans, benches and electric scooters. Bonfires were burning all over the streets and European and Georgian flags were flying. Protesters blew whistles and beat drums.
Georgia. Police brutally suppressed the protests. many demonstrators injured
In the morning, police pushed the demonstrators out from near the metro station and onto Rustaveli Street, surrounding them with a cordon. Police made brutal arrests, with some participants punched, kicked and dragged. Many of the protesters were injured, and some required medical treatment, the Georgian Formula television station reported. According to George, a 34-year-old taxi driver, police attacks on protesters are increasing day by day.
Police removed the barricades and firefighters extinguished the fire before sunrise. A cleaning service has appeared on Rustaveli Street.
Clashes between police and demonstrators also broke out overnight in the Black Sea port city of Batumi and Kutaisi in western Georgia.
The Interior Ministry announced Saturday that 107 people were detained during nighttime demonstrations in Tbilisi. “As a result of the brutal actions of the demonstrators, 10 police officers were injured,” the statement said, adding that one of them was hospitalized with burns. The ministry did not say how many protesters were injured in clashes with police.
Protests in Georgia are “beyond the scope of peaceful assembly.” Against the backdrop of EU membership
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the protests went beyond a peaceful assembly and became illegal. A total of 150 protesters have been detained in the capital and 10 in Batumi since Thursday.
The victory of the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party in the Oct. 26 parliamentary election, which was seen as a referendum on Georgia's membership in the European Union, sparked massive opposition protests.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili also joins the demonstrators.
On October 30, the European Commission announced the suspension of the accession process with Georgia, recommending that it be reinstated unless the authorities in Tbilisi start respecting EU values, including by accounting for irregularities during the elections. announced that it would not. On Thursday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia itself would suspend EU accession negotiations until 2028.
Pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili joined protesters on Thursday, accusing the government of declaring war on its own people. In a Friday address to Georgians, she called on police not to use force against protesters.
Authorities said many demonstrators attacked police officers.
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Budka talks about the Horonia incident on “Guest of Events”: Someone is watching too many TV series/Polsat News/Polsat News
