More than 100 protesters arrested during pro-EU demonstrations in Georgia
Protesters are angry at the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.
More than 100 demonstrators were arrested overnight in Georgia as protesters clashed with police following the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union, the country’s interior ministry said on Saturday.
It was the second straight night of protests after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the country’s ruling Georgian Dream party announced the decision the previous day.
Demonstrators faced off against police late on Friday in a number of major Georgian cities, including the capital, Tbilisi, and the Black Sea port of Batumi.
The Associated Press saw protesters in Tbilisi being chased and beaten by police as demonstrators rallied in front of the country’s parliament building.
Police also used heavy force against members of the media and used loudspeakers to shout profanities and insults at the crowds.
Georgian Dream’s disputed victory in the country’s October 26 parliamentary election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union, has sparked massive demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament.
The opposition has said that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, Georgia’s former imperial master, with Moscow hoping to keep Tbilisi in its orbit.
Georgian president, Salome Zourabichvili, joined protesters on Thursday after accusing the government of declaring war on its own people. In an address to the nation on Friday, she urged police not to use force against protesters.
Mr Kobakhidze, the prime minister, characterized the protests on Saturday as “violent demonstrations”. He said that unspecified “foreign entities” wished to see the “Ukrainisation” of Georgia with a “Maidan-style scenario” – a reference to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan revolution.
Mr Kobakhidze also said that Georgia remained committed to European integration.
The government’s announcement that it was suspending negotiations to join the EU came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution that condemned last month’s vote as neither free nor fair.
It said the election represented another manifestation of Georgia’s continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible”.
