A multi-thousand-strong rally is underway near the parliament building in Tbilisi. The police use force and detain the participants.
Ekho Kavkaza and SOVA Georgia write about this.
The special forces use water cannons — the demonstrators throw firecrackers in response. There are already victims, in particular, Mariam Haprindashvili, a journalist of the "Pirveli" TV channel — she is receiving medical assistance. The television company placed responsibility for what happened on the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.
The countryʼs president Salome Zurabishvili has already turned to the police. She urged the Ministry of Internal Affairs employees not to use force against the participants of the action: "Nowhere — neither on Rustaveli Avenue nor in other cities — is there anything that would require your intervention," she said.
The media reports that the arrests of protestors have begun in all cities of Georgia where protests are ongoing.
What preceded
Georgia applied to join the EU in March 2022, weeks after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and gained candidate status in December 2023.
In August 2024, the law on "foreign agents" entered into force in Georgia, which caused mass protests. Protesters were dispersed. The EU stated that the adopted law effectively stops the integration of Georgia. The US announced a "comprehensive review" of bilateral cooperation with Georgia due to the suppression of democratic freedoms.
On November 28, 2024, the Prime Minister of Georgia Iraklii Kobakhidze announced that Georgia was abandoning negotiations on joining the EU until 2028. He explained that 2028 will supposedly be the time when Georgia will be economically ready to start accession negotiations. After that, protests began in the country, which were dispersed by security forces.
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