Protests have erupted throughout Georgia after Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that the country was halting its EU membership bid ‘until the end of 2028’.

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Mtavari Arkhi reports rubber bullet use

Mtavari Arkhi published video footage allegedly showing riot police firing rubber bullets at demonstrators in Tbilisi.

Formula publish footage of riot police attack on their journalist

TV Formula has published footage appearing to show a riot police officer tackling their journalist, Guram Rogava.

According to them, the officer was ‘first beating a fallen civilian, then ran towards Guram Rogava and deliberately hit him in the head’.

They reported that Rogava was hospitalised as a result of the head injury.

Coalition for Change claims injuries amongst leadership

The opposition Coalition for Change group has stated that two of their leaders, Elene Khoshtaria and Nana Malashkhia, were injured during the protest.

They have said that Malashkia sustained an injury to her nose, while Khoshtaria is feared to have broken her hand.

Imedi: 18 policemen injured

Pro-government TV Imedi reported that 18 law enforcement officers were injured during the protest.

Journalist Keshelashvili says riot police beat him harder after he told that he is a journalist

Publika’s Aleksandre Keshelashvili, who was earlier detained by the police, has said that riot police insulted him and beat him harder after he told them that he was a journalist.

‘I kept repeating from the beginning that I was a journalist, but I think it worked the other way around, they were swearing at me and then they [swore even more] because I was a journalist,' he wrote on Facebook.

He added that he was detained and beaten by masked men in a ‘completely incomprehensible situation’. 

‘They were trying to arrest citizens, I was on the side, but I tried to retreat further, and at that moment they grabbed me’, he said.

He has accused the police of confiscating his cameras, press ID, and gas mask.

Local media: Poet Zviad Ratiani detained

Georgian poet Zviad Ratiani was reportedly detained during the demonstration in front of parliament. His family say they were unable to ascertain his current whereabouts or why he was detained..

Elene Khoshtaria pepper sprayed

Elene Khoshtaria, one of the leaders of Coalition for Change, was pepper sprayed by riot police near, local media reported.

Riot police break into Coalition for Change office

IPN has reported that several riot police officers entered the offices of opposition group Coalition for Change and physically assaulted one of the protesters who was taking shelter in the office. 

According to IPN, protesters on the street are throwing fireworks at police officers who are firing tear gas at them.

Formula’s Rogava injured

TV Formula journalist Guram Rogava was injured while covering the protest. Rogava has injuries to his face and body and was seen bleeding in pictures. According to IPN, he is receiving first aid at the scene.

Zourabichvili: Journalists ‘disproportionately targeted and attacked while doing their job’

#GeorgiaProtests: I stand with the Georgian media, who are disproportionately targeted and attacked while doing their job and reporting continuously

— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) November 28, 2024

My Voice: police actions equals to inhumane treatment

My Voice, a coalition of rights groups originally launched to observe the October parliamentary elections, has accused the Interior Ministry of resorting to measures which they said ‘can be regarded as inhumane treatment of the protesters’.

The coalition alleged that the Interior Ministry violated the Georgian Constitution, the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations, and the Law on Police by dispersing the peaceful assembly with water cannons allegedly mixed with ‘chemical additives’, tear gas, and pepper spray, as well as through the unlawful detention and physical assault of protesters.

Public Defender: police ‘violated freedom of assembly’

Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani issued a preliminary statement asserting that law enforcement agencies ‘violated the freedom of assembly’ by using special measures against a protest demonstration at 02:00, which he claimed ‘remained peaceful’.

The Public Defender emphasised that the police should address individual participants who break the law during an otherwise peaceful protest.

‘Contrary to this, law enforcement began using special measures against participants of the assembly, including peaceful demonstrators, which violates the standard of necessary and proportionate interference with rights’.

Protesters continue to light fires along Rustaveli Avenue

Protesters have continued to light fires on Rustaveli Avenue, despite police efforts to disperse them.

Riot police fire tear gas directly at OC Media’s Robin Fabbro

Riot police fired tear gas directly at OC Media’s editor-in-chief Robin Fabbro on Lesia Ukrainka Street, a side street off of Rustaveli Avenue. There were only a few other people on the street, and Fabbro was wearing a vest that clearly stated he was a member of the press. 

Riot police fired tear gas directly at OC Media’s editor-in-chief Robin Fabbro on Lesia Ukrainka Street, a side street off of Rustaveli Avenue. There were only a few other people on the street, and Fabbro was wearing a vest that clearly stated he was a member of the press. pic.twitter.com/NbS9FiGU18

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 28, 2024

Police detain and assault Publika journalist

Publika has said that their journalist, Aleksandre Keshalashvili, had sustained a broken nose after being beaten and arrested while covering the protest.

Aleksandre Keshelashvili, a journalist of @Publika_ge, was beaten and arrested while covering the protest. He was taken to the police station and released after a few hours with a handwritten note. He has a broken nose and is being taken to the hospital. pic.twitter.com/tLg77Sf43H

— PUBLIKA (@Publika_ge) November 28, 2024

Nearly 90 Georgian Foreign Ministry employees criticise the government for ‘halting’ EU membership efforts

The number of Georgian Foreign Ministry employees who have come out to publicly criticise the government’s decision to halt its EU integration efforts have more than doubled since earlier in the day. 

So far, 86 employees of Georgia’s Foreign Ministry have joined their colleague, Ketevan Pruidze, in condemning the Georgian government’s declaration today as being ‘in conflict with the country’s strategic interests’.

‘Halting the negotiation process for membership will lead to the country’s isolation [...] We believe that removing the opening of EU membership negotiations from the political agenda until 2028 contradicts the requirements of Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution’, the statement read.

As the protest grows more tense, our team on the ground in Tbilisi continues covering the events on Rustaveli Avenue, despite apparently being targeted by riot police with water cannons, tear gas, and pepper spray. You can help continue this work becoming an OC Media member. Along with supporting our journalism, you will receive a host of benefits including exclusive newsletters, a daily news brief, and more.

Police appear to be directly targeting journalists with water cannons

OC Media has seen riot police appearing to deliberately hit journalists on Rustaveli Avenue with water cannons. 

Riot police in Georgia appear to be targeting journalists covering the protest in Tbilisi with water cannons.

🔴Live updates: https://t.co/PoG8cbUewY pic.twitter.com/B2rILctKzq

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 28, 2024

Tear gas deployed

Police are now continuously firing tear gas canisters at protesters.

Georgian police are firing tear gas at protesters in Tbilisi.

🔴Live updates: https://t.co/PoG8cbUewY pic.twitter.com/wM8hV2Nk4a

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 28, 2024

GYLA condemns police use of force

The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) have condemned the actions of riot police on Rustaveli Avenue, describing them as measures ‘carried out with the use of unlawful and disproportionate force’. GYLA stated that evidence is emerging of violations in the standards for riot control measures, including the use of pepper spray ‘directly into protesters’ faces’ and the combination of chemical irritants with water deployed by water cannons.

GYLA urged the Interior Ministry to disclose the chemical measures being used, citing medical considerations — to enable healthcare professionals to adequately treat affected protesters.

The rights group reiterated their earlier call for law enforcement officers 'not to obey unlawful orders and to stop dispersing peaceful demonstrators in ways equivalent to criminal acts'. 

Police dismantle barricade on Rustaveli Avenue

Riot police continue their push through Rustaveli Avenue, as they put out a bonfire lit by protesters using water cannons, and begin dismantling a makeshift barricade set up earlier by protesters.

Police reportedly begin arresting protesters

Police have reportedly begun arresting individual protesters gathered on Rustaveli Avenue as the crackdown against the demonstration continues.

After the crackdown, the regime’s riot police began arresting people, but the crowd remains on Rustaveli Avenue.

— Anna Gvarishvili (@AnnaGvarishvili) November 28, 2024

Protesters build barricades and light bonfires on Rustaveli Avenue

Protesters who were cleared from the front of the parliament building by water cannons have now begun building barricades further down Rustaveli Avenue. 

Protesters in Tbilisi have put up a barricade and set fire to it on Rustaveli Avenue in front of the Georgian Parliament.

🔴Live updates: https://t.co/PoG8cbUewY pic.twitter.com/nUFF3zfyMg

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 28, 2024

OC Media’s Mariam Nikuradze seeks medical attention after sustaining injury

OC Media journalist and co-director Mariam Nikuradze has sought medical attention from a nearby ambulance after being struck with what appeared to be pepper spray mixed in with spray from water cannons.

Publika has reported that several journalists, in addition to Nikuradze, had been injured as well.

Nikuradze earlier captured the moment a TV Pirveli camera operator fell to the ground as police charged the crowd.

OC Media's @mari_nikuradze sought medical attention after being fired at with water mixed with pepper spray from water cannons on Rustaveli Avenue.

🔴Live updates: https://t.co/PoG8cbUewY

Video via Netgazeti pic.twitter.com/vwLJZSIOUp

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 28, 2024

Police push protesters off Rustaveli Avenue with water cannons

Protesters are being herded onto side streets as riot police clear Rustaveli Avenue using water cannons and pepper spray. 

Riot police break through protester lines
Riot police have broken through protester lines on Rustaveli Avenue in front of parliament.
OC Media’s journalist saw the TV Pirveli’s camera operator on the ground, appearing to have fallen as he was covering the stampede.

Police runs in crowd. Tv pirveli cameraman on the ground pic.twitter.com/sZoDPN2CCo

— Mariam Nikuradze (@mari_nikuradze) November 28, 2024

Estonian Foreign Minister: Georgian Dream has ‘deceived’ the Georgian people

The Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margus Tsahkna, has called the recent decision by Georgian Dream to halt Georgia’s EU Membership bid an ‘inevitable result’.

The latest decision by leaders of the Georgian Dream is the inevitable result of how they have deceived the entire #Georgian people &, above all, their own voters who believed that GD would lead them to EU 🇪🇺. pic.twitter.com/TelxCFVBXj

— Margus Tsahkna (@Tsahkna) November 28, 2024

Water cannons deployed on Chinchadze Street

Police have used water cannons to disperse protesters on Chinchadze Street, another road located to the side of Georgia’s parliament building.

Police have used water cannons to disperse protesters on Chinchadze Street, another road located to the side of Georgia’s parliament building.

🔴Live updates: https://t.co/PoG8cbUewY pic.twitter.com/QuArq3LJXB

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 28, 2024

Protesters attempt to push through parliament side street

Georgian protesters have attempted to advance through 9 April Street, a road to the side of parliament, pushing the police line further back. They were throwing objects at the police.

Georgian protesters have attempted to advance through 9 April Street, a road to the side of parliament, pushing the police line further back. They were throwing objects at the police.

🔴 Live updates: https://t.co/PoG8cbUewY pic.twitter.com/p5U49RBzH2

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 28, 2024

Zourabichvili calls on EU partners ‘to speak out’

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who earlier was present at the protests in front of the Georgian parliament, has called on Georgia’s EU partners to ‘speak out’ and to ‘not let Russia have a free ride’.

#Georgiaprotests: its time for our EU partners to speak out ! Do not let Russia have a free ride! Georgian people are defending European future and will do so until replay of the elections in a free and fair environment! pic.twitter.com/jUK7ZsF4jR

— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) November 28, 2024

Riot police use pepper spray

Riot police have deployed a large amount of pepper spray against protesters located in front of the Georgian pParliament building. 

A lot of peper spray or tear gas deployed pic.twitter.com/WOm3zREPPd

— Mariam Nikuradze (@mari_nikuradze) November 28, 2024

TV Pirveli cameraman injured 

TV Pirveli has reported that one of their camera operators, Niko Kokaia, was injured while covering the protests on Rustaveli Avenue. 

According to the station, Kokaia was broadcasting the events live when riot police sprayed pepper spray in his face from close range.

‘TV Pirveli assigns the responsibility to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, and we call on him to give us the opportunity to fulfill our professional duties’, the station wrote. ‘We explain that special forces are particularly aggressive towards TV operators. Their goal is to disable the TV signal’.

MIA: protest at parliament goes ‘beyond the norms’

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has published another statement about the ongoing protests, alleging that the rally in the vicinity of the parliament ‘went beyond the norms established by the Law on Assembly and Manifestation’.

The Ministry claimed that several protestors ‘physically confronted and verbally insulted’ law enforcement officers and that ‘various objects’ were thrown at said officers, causing three injuries. 

‘Once again, we call on every participant of the rally not to take illegal actions and to obey the instructions of the law enforcement officers. Otherwise, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will act within the mandate given to it by the law and will use coercive measures provided for by the Georgian legislation’, the Ministry warned.

GYLA: ‘The citizens’ protest is legitimate’

The Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association has called on law enforcement officers to refrain from using violence against peaceful demonstrators. 

We urge law enforcement officers not to obey unlawful orders and refrain from using violent methods against peaceful demonstrators.
The citizens’ protest is legitimate! pic.twitter.com/e1U7N5lRC4

— GYLA (@GYLA_CSO) November 28, 2024

Archbishop appeals to Patriarch to preserve Georgian statehood

Archbishop Zenon Iarajuli of Dmanisi and Agarak-Tashiri has reportedly appealed to Patriarch II to ‘stand up against the attempt to arrest the Georgian nation, cancel the statehood of Georgia, and attempt a constitutional coup’. 

He also called on the Patriarch to express his support to the head of state and the ‘legitimate president of Georgia’ as well as to the Georgian people, and to ‘stand up against the betrayal of the motherland’.

The Archbishop was the only high-ranking clergy member who opposed the foreign agents law earlier this year. 

Listen: OC Media’s latest podcast covering the new Georgian Dream parliament 

Earlier today, OC Media’s Robin Fabbro, Mariam Nikuradze, and Shota Kincha sat down to talk about the developments surrounding the protests against electoral fraud and Georgian Dream’s plans for the future.

[The Caucasus Digest: Podcast | Georgian Dream launch parliament — what’s next?]

Riot police mobilised

Riot police have been mobilised on Freedom Square, at the entrance of Rustaveli Avenue. Police have also reportedly used pepper spray against protesters.

MIA: one officer injured by protesters 

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has issued a statement, noting that ‘despite the numerous calls made by the police to the participants of the rally on the spot, to express their protest in peaceful ways and not to exceed the norms established by the assembly-manifestation law, some of the gathered confront the law enforcement officers and insult them verbally’.

The statement also claimed that ‘as a result of the alleged violent action of the members of the protest against the police, one employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was injured and taken to a medical facility’.

Also, we inform the public that as a result of the alleged violent action of the members of the protest against the police, one employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was injured and taken to a medical facility.

Foreign Ministry employees speak out against the government

Over 40 Foreign Ministry employees have published a joint statement saying that Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s ‘announcement on Georgia’s withdrawal from EU accession negotiations until 2028 does not correspond to the country’s strategic interests’.

They further stated that the ‘wave of EU expansion’ represented an ‘unprecedented historical opportunity for Georgia’, and that ‘unilateral refusal of this opportunity by the country will lead to negative strategic consequences’.

MIA warns protesters of legal response in case of ‘illegal actions’

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has issued a statement noting that law enforcement officers have been mobilised across Georgia in places where people are protesting.

‘We call on the organisers of the rally, political leaders and participants to express their protest within the framework established by the law. Any illegal action will be met with an appropriate legal response from the police’, the statement read.

Zourabichvili addresses riot police

Almost an hour ago, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has called on riot police to think about who they are serving and who they swore an oath to. 

‘It is not your duty to tear people apart. Do you serve Russia or Georgia? Who did you swear an oath to? I am interested in the answer. Do you not answer the president?’ Zourabichvili asked them. ‘For how many GEL are you serving another country?’

There was no response from the riot police. 

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has addressed riot police near the Georgian Parliament telling them to remember that they serve Georgia.

Background: https://t.co/WQ3sci0dWi pic.twitter.com/xdLUf6sQdT

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 28, 2024

Protests spread across the country

In addition to Tbilisi, protesters have gathered in other large cities across Georgia, including in Batumi, Kutaisi, Gori, Zugdidi, and Telavi. 

Protesters attempt to tear down parliament barricades

Protesters in front of the Georgian Parliament have begun trying to tear down the barricades blocking the entrance to the building. Some protesters also attempted to climb up and over the barricades to try to dismantle them from behind. 

A leader of the opposition Coalition for Change, Nika Gavarmia, was also seen at the barricades. 

Protesters are attempting to tear down the barriers blocking the entrance to the Georgian Parliament. One of the leaders of the opposition Coalition for Change, Nika Gvaramia, was also seen at the barriers.

Background: https://t.co/WQ3sci0dWi pic.twitter.com/1OT4xgVJOP

— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) November 28, 2024

PM says Georgia ‘halting’ EU membership bid

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement tonight about ‘halting’ Georgia’s EU membership bid until 2028 has sparked protests throughout Georgia.

In Tbilisi, protesters gathered around the ruling Georgian Dream party’s headquarters before proceeding to march to Rustaveli Avenue, where parliament is located.