Another anti-government demonstration is taking place in front of the Georgian parliament building. In the evening, the security forces started to calm it down. “Long live Georgia!” – chanted the retreating demonstrators.
Another protest was announced on Monday against the government's decision to end negotiations with the European Union on Georgia's membership last week.
Georgian security forces entered the square in front of the parliament from three sides – from Ozodi square and two neighboring streets. Before the calm began, warning sirens sounded, urging the protesters to disperse.
“The Euro-revolution cannot be stopped”, “The power of the nation is stronger than the people in power” – such slogans are visible in the slogans of the crowd gathered in the center of the city.
“Putin, you b***h!” – shouted the protesters who were gassed.
Under the pressure of the police, the demonstrators started to leave the parliament and the police started arresting them. The protesters stopped a few hundred meters away from the parliament, in front of the opera house, and fired fireworks at the officers.
“We want freedom and democracy”
On Monday, a large number of young people – schoolchildren and students – came to the demonstration.
Protesters in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi PAP/EPA
Sando, a second-year student, came up with a slogan that had a simple message: “We want freedom and democracy.” In an interview with the Polish press agency, he admits that young Georgians know very well what the European Union is. – It opens the door to the future, – he emphasizes.
Mira, a university teacher, also holds a card with the inscription “Now we choose our future” and talks about hope for change. Although he has been coming to the parliament every day since Thursday, this time, he emphasizes, he is here not for himself, but for his children and students.
Protest in Tbilisi, GeorgiaEPA/DAVID MDZINARISHVILI
Protesters hold Georgian and EU flags in front of the parliament in Tbilisi EPA/DAVID MDZINARISHVILI
Another student who attended the event, David, said he came to protest against the government, which initiated the so-called anti-LGBT law on Monday. He emphasized that before entering the parliament, activists and representatives of sexual minorities protested against the discriminatory law in front of the headquarters of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
In early October, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, signed a package of regulations “on the protection of family values and minors” called the “anti-LGBT law”. President Salome Zurabishvili did not sign or veto the new law. It prohibits intercourse between same-sex couples, prohibits adoption by non-heterosexual individuals, and prohibits gender reassignment. In schools, it is forbidden to present information that could be interpreted as “promotion of belonging to the opposite sex, same-sex relationships or consanguinity”.
Main image credit: EPA/DAVID MDZINARISHVILI
