Opposition chief Nika Melia and former mayor Gigi Ugulava arrested throughout a rally in Tbilisi.
Police have cracked down as pro-democracy protests sprang again to life in Georgia.
A number of antigovernment protesters, together with two opposition leaders, have been arrested late on Sunday throughout a big demonstration in opposition to the governing occasion within the capital Tbilisi. The rally marked a revival of mass protests seen late final yr.
Georgians have been protesting each day in opposition to the ruling Georgia Dream Celebration since November, though occasions had been quieter because the flip of the yr. Opposition teams declare that voter fraud helped the governing occasion to keep up energy at elections in October 2024.
Additionally they object to legal guidelines they view as authoritarian and declare that Georgian Dream is attempting to tug the nation again in the direction of Russia, having paused efforts to hitch the European Union.
The protests returned with renewed momentum on Sunday night time as hundreds gathered on the northern fringe of Tbilisi, blocking a highway that leads out of the town.
Nika Melia, the chief of the liberal pro-European Akhali occasion, and former Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava, a outstanding opposition determine, have been arrested in the course of the protest.
In response to Melia’s lawyer, the opposition chief was “arrested on an administrative offence cost” and launched shortly after midnight after signing a promise to seem in court docket.
The impartial TV Pirveli information station aired footage of police brutally beating detained protesters.
Underneath Ivanishvili’s direct orders, regime escalated violence as soon as once more, bringing again full-scale mass repressions alongside focused retributions, deploying masked forces to brutally punish peaceable protesters – youth, ladies, and journalists.#GeorgiaProtests #terrorinGeorgia pic.twitter.com/X65Fti6bpl
— Giorgi Gakharia (@GakhariaGiorgi) February 3, 2025
Former prime minister and opposition chief Giorgi Gakharia accused Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, who holds no official place, of “escalat[ing] violence as soon as once more [and] bringing again full-scale mass repressions alongside focused retribution”.
Later, crowds resumed their protests outdoors the parliament within the centre of Tbilisi, the place smaller occasions have been held in current weeks.
European Union overseas coverage chief Kaja Kallas condemned the actions of the authorities, writing on X on Sunday night time that the “brutal crackdown on peaceable protesters, journalists and politicians” was “unacceptable”.
“Georgia falls wanting any expectation from a candidate nation. The EU stands with the folks of Georgia of their struggle for freedom and democracy,” she added.
The brutal crackdown on peaceable protesters, journalists and politicians tonight in Tbilisi is unacceptable.
Georgia falls wanting any expectation from a candidate nation.
The EU stands with the folks of Georgia of their struggle for freedom and democracy.
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) February 2, 2025
Alongside protesters accusing the governing occasion of rigging the October election, demonstrators are additionally offended in regards to the authorities’s resolution to postpone EU accession talks till 2028.
The purpose of becoming a member of the EU was first adopted as a part of Georgia’s structure in 2017.
Final week, Brussels suspended visa-free journey to the EU for Georgian diplomats and officers, citing the adoption of a number of repressive legal guidelines and the “violent repression by Georgian authorities in opposition to peaceable protesters, politicians, and impartial media”.
In response to the Ministry of Inner Affairs, in the course of the first wave of protests in November, riot police used tear fuel and water cannon to disperse the crowds, arresting greater than 400 folks.
Georgian rights activists have additionally slammed what they check with as a marketing campaign of intimidation in opposition to these protesting.
