Georgian police allegedly pulled protesters’ hair and dragged them down the street as crowds gathered in front of the parliament in Tbilisi to oppose the controversial inauguration of a new president.
Security forces arrested activists taking part in a peaceful protest in the vicinity of the parliament, the Interpressnews agency reported, citing Georgia’s Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), a human rights group. Six protesters were detained in total, according to officials, before being released later.
Videos of the arrests shared by the News Georgia and TV Pirveli media outlets show officers pulling at people’s hair and dragging them down the street. Among the detained were women and possibly minors.
According to the GYLA, the police’s actions constitute “a violation of the freedom to peaceful assembly and expression, are in contravention of legal norms, and are a continuation of the month-long repressions.”
Pro-EU Georgians have been protesting for weeks against the ruling Georgian Dream party, which halted EU accession talks after returning to power in disputed parliamentary elections. Protesters, human rights groups and Western politicians have accused the police and security services of disproportionally using force to disperse protests. The government has repeatedly rejected such claims and claimed that protesters weren’t in fact behaving peacefully.
Videos of the arrests shared by the News Georgia and TV Pirveli media outlets show officers pulling at people’s hair and dragging them down the street. Among the detained were women and possibly minors.
According to the GYLA, the police’s actions constitute “a violation of the freedom to peaceful assembly and expression, are in contravention of legal norms, and are a continuation of the month-long repressions.”
Pro-EU Georgians have been protesting for weeks against the ruling Georgian Dream party, which halted EU accession talks after returning to power in disputed parliamentary elections. Protesters, human rights groups and Western politicians have accused the police and security services of disproportionally using force to disperse protests. The government has repeatedly rejected such claims and claimed that protesters weren’t in fact behaving peacefully.
Activists consider the new president, Mikheil Kavelashvili, to be illegitimate, because he was voted in by lawmakers that they believe were fraudulently elected. On Sunday, following a statement by the outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili, in which she denounced the inauguration of Kavelashvili as a “parody,” a crowd of her supporters marched from the presidential palace to the parliament, where Kavelshvili had been sworn in earlier in the day. Access to the parliament building was cordoned off by the police.
The protesters carried Georgian, American, EU and NATO flags and images of Georgian Dream founder Bidzin Ivanishvili, prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Kavelashvili himself - including ones with a picture of the new president and the inscription “Congratulations, slave”.
Others blew vuvuzelas and whistles while waving red cards, in reference to Kavelashvili’s previous career as a professional footballer.
The protesters carried Georgian, American, EU and NATO flags and images of Georgian Dream founder Bidzin Ivanishvili, prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Kavelashvili himself - including ones with a picture of the new president and the inscription “Congratulations, slave”.
Others blew vuvuzelas and whistles while waving red cards, in reference to Kavelashvili’s previous career as a professional footballer.
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