Thousands of pro-EU demonstrators took to the streets of Tbilisi on Thursday evening for an eighth night of mobilization against the government, accused of slowing down the country's European ambitions, and which has vowed to annihilate the opposition.
The government's increasingly firm speech, the forcible dispersal of previous gatherings and the arrest of several opposition leaders have so far not dampened the determination of the demonstrators.
There were several thousand of them again Thursday evening near the parliament, some brandishing signs on which was written: “Your repression will finish you”, under the gaze of the anti-riot police positioned near the parliament, noted AFP journalists .
However, participation at the start of the rally was lower than on previous evenings.
“It's horrible. Really bad things are happening,” said Mano, a 23-year-old woman who did not want to give her last name, in reference to the government's repression. “This government must change, because it does not care about us or future generations.”
As on the previous seven nights, protesters banged on the metal barriers blocking the entrance to parliament, waved EU flags and sounded horns.
Nini Tchourghoulia, a 19-year-old history student, wrapped in a white and red Georgian flag, said she feared the movement was losing steam, even if she remained determined to demonstrate. “We will win in the end,” she wants to believe.
– Menaces –
Faced with this protest movement, the government, accused of pro-Russian autocratic drift by its detractors, further strengthened its rhetoric on Thursday, after the arrest the day before of three opposition leaders.
“We will do everything necessary to completely eradicate liberal-fascism” from the opposition, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze vowed at a press conference, again accusing – without providing evidence – the protest of fomenting a revolution and to be financed from abroad.
He also attacked the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken who on Wednesday condemned the “unjustified violence” of power in Georgia, saying he hoped for a change of position with the arrival at the helm of Donald Trump in January.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in the morning sanctions against 19 Georgian officials, including Mr. Kobakhidze, and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country's strongman accused of pulling the strings of national politics.
Georgia has been going through a serious political crisis since the legislative elections of October 26, won by the ruling Georgian Dream party, but denounced as rigged by its opponents.
Massive demonstrations finally broke out on November 28 after Mr. Kobakhidze's announcement of the suspension until 2028 of this former Soviet republic's ambitions to join the EU.
Six of the previous seven nights of protests in Tbilisi were dispersed with water cannons and tear gas, while protesters fired fireworks at police and tried to blind them with lasers.
Nearly 300 people have been arrested and 143 police officers have been injured since the start of the movement, according to the Interior Ministry.
– Leaders arrested –
On Wednesday, authorities raided the offices of the opposition Droa party. Hooded police officers brutalized then took away Nika Gvaramia, the leader of another allied party, Akhali, according to images from the independent television channel Pirveli.
According to this channel, two other opposition leaders, Alexandre Elisachvili and Zourab Datounashvili, were arrested.
The Interior Ministry also reported the arrest of seven people accused of having “organized” violence during the demonstrations. They face up to nine years in prison.
The main Georgian opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM) of imprisoned former president Mikhail Saakashvili, denounced “a campaign of terror and repression”.
Prime Minister Kobakhidze assured that the Georgians had “misunderstood” and that European integration was “progressing”, despite the postponement that he himself announced.
The Georgian human rights commissioner, Levan Ioseliani, for his part accused the police of violating the demonstrators “in a punitive way”.
Senior Georgian officials also began to express their opposition to the government by slamming the door.
