How many people are now protesting in the streets and what is the trend — is the protest growing?
On the evening of November 28, after the Prime Minister declared the suspension of European integration, several thousand people spontaneously marched to the parliament and the office of the ruling party. Closer to night there were already at least 20 thousand. Then the dispersal began. But it usually happens here: the stricter the dispersal, the more people go out the next day. So after the crackdown, according to various estimates, approximately 100 000 people came out, and so almost every day. And on Saturday, December 30, there were almost 200 000 — this is the peak.
Protesters protect an elderly woman from water cannons.
In Ukraine, during the protests, tents were put up in order to gain a foothold. You have people coming out, at night they are dispersed, the next day they come out again — is this a system?
The main mass is collected during the day — from about 12 oʼclock. Around one oʼclock in the morning, marches through the city begin: students, schoolchildren, teachersʼ march, womenʼs march. They are not numerous, but almost a hundred thousand people gather under the parliament building in the evening. If we take rallies in other cities, we can probably say that at least 200 000 people go to protests every day throughout Georgia. By the way, now many students and schoolchildren have stopped going to classes, and many universities, for example, Tbilisi State University named after Ivan Javakhishvili, unofficially give vacations to those students who go to protests.
And in what other cities are rallies held?
A lot of people go out in Batumi. The situation there is almost on the verge of clashes with the police. There are a lot of people in Kutaisi, in Rustav, a city near Tbilisi, in Zugdidi, Zestafon. Rallies are also held in small towns, for example, in Khashur, Kvareli, where there had never been any protest actions before. There is a feeling of general dissatisfaction, which was not the case even during the spring protests against the so-called Russian law.
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On the night of December 2, security forces detained, in particular, one of the leaders of the protest — opposition deputy Zurab Japaridze. He has already been released, but what about the other detainees?
Zurab Japaridze believes that the parliament is illegitimate, and therefore does not recognize himself as a deputy. But since the parliament has not yet terminated his parliamentary powers, he was released. And in general, this protest differs in that it has no leaders. Yesterday, the President emphasized that this is such a spontaneous civil protest that it does not need political leaders in principle, and called on the opposition not to interfere and not to try to lead the protest, because it will only cause harm.
Regarding the situation with detainees: they are often beaten during and after detention, for example, when they are already being taken to the detention center. This is confirmed by the Peopleʼs Defender of Georgia Levan Ioseliani, who periodically visits the detainees. Although the opposition does not trust him very much, he calls what he saw something inhuman. Lawyers of detainees and their relatives also claim beatings, and photos are periodically published. Security forces also beat journalists. There are cases when noses or hands were broken. The journalist of the opposition TV channel TV Pirveli was beaten up — she needed an operation. The journalist of the "Formula" TV channel Guram Rohava was hit from behind by a special agent — he fell and hit the asphalt, he fractured his cervical vertebra and nose. Guram is still in the hospital.
Attack of a special agent on journalist Guram Rohava.
And what happens after the arrests? Are criminal cases initiated?
Today there are two such cases. One case was opened against a minor — a 17-year-old boy. He is accused of setting fire to the wiring of video surveillance cameras. Others go through administrative cases: someone is fined, someone is under administrative arrest for a few days — the terms are different. So far, more than 200 people have been detained, and so far only 74 people have been brought to court, administrative decisions have already been issued against 72.
What means of law enforcement officers use during dispersal?
These are water cannons. Moreover, they use both pure water and those with some impurities. That is, it is not enough that you are doused with water, it leaves burns on your skin. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs: they said that in some cases special agents are added to the water, but they insist that this is not against the law. They use batons and tear gas. There is also evidence of the use of rubber bullets. The Ministry of Internal Affairs itself denies this, but there is already documentary evidence — videos and photos of how they shoot, rubber bullet casings are already found. But so far these are not systematic, but individual cases.
Security forces shoot the protesters with rubber bullets. During dispersals, water cannons with water with impurities are actively used. The victims say that she is leaving custody. The main clashes take place at night.
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Today, the Prime Minister of Georgia stated that European integration will continue to be a priority, and he hopes for a qualitative restart of relations with the USA and the EU. How can this statement affect the protest?
In no way. He talks about it all the time. And when he spoke about stopping European integration, he also said the same thing — he said that by 2028 we would better prepare and then open negotiations. And he made todayʼs statement against the background of EU flags. But everyone perfectly understands what it is all about. And people protested precisely because of this suspension.
How do officials react? Are there among them those who supported the protests?
So far, the Cabinet of Ministers and deputies are silent. The deputy minister of foreign affairs resigned from his position, five ambassadors wrote resignation letters in protest. Today, the senior executor of the Tactical Training Service of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Georgy Gabekhadze resigned. State officials are beginning to raise their heads, although when the law on "foreign agents" was adopted, they remained silent. And now they make mass statements and distance themselves from the actions of the ruling party.
The authorities react to this in a very original way: they say that this is the beginning of a natural cleansing of the state apparatus. Yesterday, the mayor of Tbilisi Kahu Kaladze was asked to comment on the fact that the employees of the city hall also distanced themselves from the government. He stated that he was going to carry out the reorganization anyway.
The authorities are trying to prove that the EU is putting pressure on the country and blackmailing it with membership. In fact, the Europeans said that if Georgia wants to join the European Union, it should carry out a number of reforms. Judicial reform, for example, is needed because the Supreme Court is not free — now it is the pocket court of our oligarch. These reforms are not beneficial to the "Georgian dream", because if there is a fair court, a fair prosecutorʼs office and fair elections, its system will collapse.
Are there Russian law enforcement officers in Georgia? She has such a practice. For example, according to our information, Moscow sent its instructors to several Latin American countries. They trained local law enforcement officers to deal with protests.
Officially nothing is known about it, there are no photo or video confirmations. In all the videos in which law enforcement officers beat and detain protesters, the security forces speak pure Georgian.
These are the most massive protests in Georgia in the last year. Almost 100,000 people walk the streets of Tbilisi every day.
After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, many Russians moved to Georgia. These were both those who are against the war and those who support it, but do not want to fight themselves. How did it affect the mood in the country?
Of course, there is an influence. When the full-scale invasion began and the Russians came here en masse, it was the first wave. Georgians did not like it — they could refuse to serve in Russian, they could be rude. Then the understanding began to come that it was mainly those Russians who did not support the war and Putinʼs policy who came to Georgia, and the attitude towards them became more neutral.
The second wave was when Russia declared partial mobilization. Then there were even a few protest actions — they said, "Russians! You are not welcome here! Go home!" But later it passed. Now I cannot say that the Russians are treated aggressively. However, they are definitely viewed with suspicion. In recent history, everyone remembers Crimea and the east of Ukraine, demands to introduce the Russian language, rallies of the pro-Russian population. There are fears that when Russians become many, they will demand either the Russian language, or citizenship, or something else.
It is also known that many Russians who arrived started opening their own businesses in Georgia. How did it affect the situation?
When Russians began to open their businesses, the lari began to strengthen, because the currency began to arrive in large volumes. But in fact, these are all soap bubbles. Here, the Russians came and brought currency, and in a year they went to Serbia, accordingly, the business was closed and the currency was taken away — this is all a temporary effect. Itʼs just that the ruling party put it in its treasury, they say, look at our growth. And in fact, you canʼt even call it growth, because inflation is colossal and with the arrival of the Russians, prices have risen, but incomes have not.
Protesters use fireworks against security forces.
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