The opposition Coalition for Change celebration says its chief Nika Gvaramia is detained by police.
Police in Georgia have raided the workplaces of a number of opposition events in what seems to be an try and halt a wave of protests towards the governing Georgia Dream celebration’s choice to droop talks on becoming a member of the European Union.
Hundreds of individuals have rallied within the capital, Tbilisi, for six consecutive nights with police firing tear fuel and water cannon to disperse the crowds. Some protesters have thrown fireworks at police and constructed barricades within the metropolis centre.
On Wednesday, the opposition Coalition for Change celebration stated its chief Nika Gvaramia had been detained by police. The celebration printed a video on X exhibiting Gvaramia being carried by the legs and arms by a number of males down some steps.
Police additionally raided the workplaces of the Youth Organisation of the opposition United Nationwide Motion (UNM) celebration, one of many celebration leaders, Levan Khabeishvili, instructed journalists.
UNM in a press release accused the Georgian authorities of launching “all-out terror and repressions towards opponents”.
The Interpress information company reported two members of one other opposition celebration, Sturdy Georgia, had been detained by the police.
Police beat and arrested the chief of the Akhali liberal opposition celebration and performed a raid on the workplaces of the Droa celebration, photographs broadcast on native TV confirmed.
The raids got here after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze promised to crack down on what he known as “radical” political forces he accused of organising the protests.
“It’s clear to everybody that these violent actions are totally coordinated by the novel opposition. … Nobody will escape accountability, together with the politicians hiding of their workplaces,” he stated.
Demonstrators to assemble once more
Additional protests have been scheduled for Wednesday night.
Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko talking from Tbilisi says police have been stationed on the parliament constructing to stop protesters from getting nearer. “Agitation right here is mounting close to the parliament,” he stated.
“It’s the seventh evening of protests right here in Tbilisi. Folks that we’ve been speaking to have been saying the arrest of the opposition chief [Gvaramia] isn’t going to discourage them from coming right here, evening after evening.”
Beforehand, pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili accused Georgian Dream of closing “retailers promoting protecting fuel masks, protecting goggles and helmets, leaving peaceable protesters disadvantaged of their elementary safety”.
Early on Wednesday, police cleared demonstrators from Tbilisi’s major avenue exterior the parliament constructing, utilizing tear fuel and water cannon, then chased fleeing individuals all through the town and made arrests.
The Ministry of Labour, Well being and Social Affairs stated “11 protesters, three journalists and one police officer” have been taken to hospitals with accidents.
“On-site medical help was supplied to dozens of people, together with media representatives and legislation enforcement officers,” it added.
Greater than 300 protesters have been detained for the reason that demonstrations erupted on Thursday, and greater than 100 individuals have been handled for accidents.
Demonstrators accuse the federal government of betraying Georgia’s bid for EU membership, which is enshrined in its structure and supported by about 80 p.c of the inhabitants, in response to polls.
Georgia’s public ombudsman, a former opposition politician, accused the police on Tuesday of harshly mistreating individuals detained through the demonstrations, conduct that he stated amounted to torture.
