Unrest in Georgia, police accused of brutality against protesters

Georgian police again used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters on Wednesday morning in the capital Tbilisi, prompting the international community, including a group of influential US lawmakers, to condemn its actions.

In the sixth consecutive night of protests in the Georgian capital, demonstrators moved from the Rustaveli Avenue center to a nearby metro station after security forces blocked their entrance to the Parmaneti building and arrested some of them.

Georgia has been rocked by protests since the ruling party, Georgian Dream, announced last week that it would suspend talks on the country's European Union membership.

Despite the growing protests, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has refused to back down and has threatened to punish political opponents, whom he accuses of the violence that occurred during the protests.

Security forces began to disperse demonstrators who had gathered in front of the Parliament building after the Interior Ministry said some of them had insulted law enforcement officers and thrown hard objects, fireworks and flammable materials at them.

Three influential US senators - co-chairman of the US Helsinki Commission, Senator Ben Cardin (Democrat of Maryland), Roger Wicker (Republican of Mississippi) and John Cornyn (Republican of Texas), issued a joint statement in support of the Georgian protesters and condemned the excessive use of violence by the Government.

"Georgian Dream's decision to abandon negotiations for membership in the European Union is a huge betrayal of the clear and overwhelming desire of the Georgian people to embrace European values ​​and institutions," the three senators said.

"This is not the behavior of a government committed to democratic reforms and pluralism, but of an insecure regime that is pulling Georgia towards a Russian-style autocracy. These actions openly violate international democratic norms and undermine the legitimate aspirations of the Georgian people." it was said in the communique.

The protesters have confessed to Radio Free Europe the brutality exercised by the security forces against them.

"They were hitting us on the head," said protester Salome Zandukeli, describing how she and a friend were chased on the night of December 2 by about 25 policemen into a building in central Tbilisi, before finding shelter in a cafe.

Activist Gia Jvarsheishvili told Radio Free Europe that he was thrown to the ground by attacking police and beaten before being forced into a police van, where detainees were forced to lie down and stomped by police.

"Suddenly I felt unbearable pain and realized that I was hurt. I didn't know it then, but I had broken ribs," Jvarsheishvili said.

Georgia's pro-European president Salome Zurabishvili, who sides with the demonstrators, told Platform X that many of the arrested protesters had head and facial injuries.

Some of them were systematically beaten during their arrest and transportation to detention centers, she added.

Georgia's ombudsman accused the police of torturing pro-EU protesters.

The excessive use of violence by Georgian security forces against protesters was described as "very disturbing" by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who said on December 3 that alliance members "call on the Georgian Government to remain in the path towards EU and NATO integration".

Most Georgians support EU membership, and efforts to join the bloc are mandated in the Georgian Constitution.

Georgia won EU candidate status in December 2023, but relations with Brussels have soured in recent months, starting with the passage of a Russian-style law on "foreign agents," which critics say threatens media and groups of civil society accusing them of "serving" foreign powers./ REL