Georgian police move in on protest encampment in Tbilisi

Georgian police have moved in to forcibly disperse a round-the-clock demonstration in Tbilisi gathered to protest the widespread electoral violation during October’s parliamentary vote.

At dawn, the police gave protesters a 15-minute deadline to vacate the busy intersection near Tbilisi State University which they had blocked since Sunday .

Demonstrators had pitched tents and erected makeshift barricades in the area.

Several thousand police officers took part in the operation, moving in to push protesters from the site. 

Officers used violence against those who refused to move, making a number of arrests and confiscating tents and other equipment.

Police have violently detained at least 10 protesters after clearing the encampment which blocked a major intersection in Tbilisi for over 30 hours. pic.twitter.com/HD2pndGn5z

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 19, 2024

The Ministry of Internal Affairs told the local media that 16 people were arrested on administrative charges, with three having been released later on Tuesday morning. Local media reported that opposition members were among those arrested. 

The opposition Ahali party said that one of their members, Nika Kvitatiani, was hospitalised during the incident.

In their statement prior to the dispersal, the Interior Ministry said they had ‘given enough time’ for those gathered to express their opinions and protest.

During the dispersal, several journalists were also injured and prevented from performing their duties by police.

Police temporarily confiscated OC Media journalist and co-director Mariam Nikuradze’s phone as she attempted to film police beating one of the protesters.

Publika reported that one of their journalists, Mindia Gabadze, was attacked by police.

There were also reports that Sergi Baramidze, a camera operator at opposition-leaning TV channel Mtavari Arkhi, was attacked by police before being arrested. After being released later on Tuesday he appeared with bruises around his eyes and mouth.

Pro-government TV channel, Imedi, stated that they appealed to the authorities over the obstruction of their work by protesters, stating that they heard ‘insulting shouts’ from them.

At a press briefing on Tuesday morning, the ruling Georgian Dream party’s executive secretary, Mamuka Mdinaradze, defended the police’s actions.

‘A few dozen people and [foreign] agency opposition cannot paralyse the city, naturally the Georgian state cannot allow this, you know that they managed to do it overnight and after some time the police made the right decision regarding the enforcement of the law’, he said.

After the dispersal, the Public Defender’s Office stated that when police moved in, ‘the rally was peaceful and conformed to the standards of freedom of assembly’.

The official results of 26 October’s elections gave the ruling Georgian Dream party a large majority, with 54% of the vote. However, local media and observer groups have documented widespread vote rigging by the ruling party.