Tbilisi - Police in Georgia arrested dozens of people overnight and early Friday in a violent crackdown on protests against the government’s decision to delay EU membership talks.
The Black Sea nation has been rocked by turmoil since the ruling party declared victory in October parliamentary elections that the pro-EU opposition decried as falsified.
On Thursday night and Friday morning, riot police deployed rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to disperse gatherings outside parliament in Tbilisi, beating peaceful protesters and journalists, an AFP reporter witnessed. The interior ministry said 32 of its staff were injured and “43 individuals were detained by law enforcement for disobeying lawful police orders and for petty hooliganism”.
Thousands of people took the streets after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the ruling Georgian Dream party announced the Caucasus country would not pursue membership of the European Union until 2028.
The opposition has accused Georgian Dream of steering Tbilisi away from its long-held dream of joining the bloc and gravitating towards Russia. Two politicians from the opposition Coalition for Change, Elene Khoshtaria and Nana Malashkhia, were reportedly injured during the protests.
Khoshtaria sustained a broken arm, while Malashkhia suffered a broken nose, the coalition said.
Prominent poet Zviad Ratiani was among those arrested, the PEN writer’s association in Georgia said, demanding his immediate release.