The Daily Beat: 8 December
Mass anti-Russian protests have not subsided for the 11th day in a row in Tbilisi and across Georgia, despite brutal violence and repressions against demonstrators. A few hundred people are detained and reportedly most of the detainees are severely beaten both during and after the detention. For more updates on anti-Russia protests and related repressions visit our Live Blog: Aborted EU Accession.
In another episode of escalating repressions in Georgia, in the late evening of December 7, the titushky violently attacked TV Pirveli journalist Maka Chikhladze and cameraman Giorgi Shetsiruli and raided the office of the opposition coalition For Change, beating at least two of its members – Koba Khabazi and Data Petridis. The attacks occurred just as an anti-Russia rally was taking place around the corner, on Rustaveli Avenue.
PM Irakli Kobakhidze believes that the attack on the journalists was a provocation staged by radical opposition to escalate the situation, saying that the incident is being investigated. According to Kobakhidze, the level of brutality of the attack on the journalists has been exaggerated. Irakli Kobakhidze also vowed to “completely neutralize” the radical opposition and eliminate what he termed “liberal fascism” from the country.
In response to the brutal beatings of protestors and journalists by masked men, PM Irakli Kobakhidze announced the introduction of a law banning face-covering during the rallies. “We are going to adopt a law prohibiting the covering of faces by various means during assemblies by participants of assemblies – including participants of counter-assemblies,” Irakli Kobakhidze said, adding that the law is expected to be adopted by the end of next week and fully implemented before the end of December.
On December 6, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Aleko Elisashvili, one of the leaders of the opposition alliance Strong Georgia, to two months of pre-trial detention. Elisashvili was charged with violent persecution of a person, following the incident involving verbal and physical assault on Ali Babaev, a member of the ruling Georgian Dream party. Prosecutors describe the incident as a politically motivated attack.
On the same day, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Nika Gvaramia, co-leader of the opposition alliance Coalition for Change, to 12 days in prison on administrative charges of petty hooliganism and disobeying lawful police orders. Gvaramia was attacked and arrested during a police raid at the office of the opposition party Droa. He got injured during the arrest and was dragged unconscious into a police car and taken to a detention center outside Tbilisi.
Revaz Kikvadze, an activist detained on December 6 for his participation in anti-Russia demonstrations, handed over a letter from the detention center stating that he is being forced to testify in court that he received money and orders from opposition politicians. He states that he is being detained illegally and that he won’t make such statements in court that are not true, declaring a hunger strike instead.
The local watchdog, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), said that the actions of the police in recent days have taken on the characteristics of police terror. “During the night of 6-7 December, the Ministry of Internal Affairs continued to use violent methods: physical violence, threats and insults against peaceful protesters, violent illegal detentions, interference in journalistic activities, as well as the use of groups of individuals against protesters,” reads the GYLA statement.
On December 6, 22 Georgian civil society organizations said they jointly appealed to international human rights monitoring organizations and sent a communication on “the grave human rights situation in Georgia.” The organizations note that the recipients of the communication may, within the framework of their mandate, undertake various steps, including a visit to Georgia and an on-the-spot assessment of the human rights situation.
During a briefing on December 6, four major opposition forces in Georgia—Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia, Unity-UNM, and Gakharia for Georgia—announced their intention to create a public registry documenting the details of cases of people illegally detained and police officers involved in violent actions against peaceful demonstrators. The initiative also seeks to assist individuals who have been tortured or subjected to excessive force during arrests.
President Salome Zurabishvili visited Paris to attend the opening of the restored Notre Dame cathedral, where she met with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. While in Paris, Salome Zurabishvili briefly met with the US President-elect Donald Trump. “I exposed the stolen elections and the extremely alarming repression against the Georgian people. I emphasized the need for a strong United States. The Georgian people have a friend in Donald Trump. God bless the United States of America,” posted Zurabishvili on her X account.