Brutal arrests among opposition leaders

Tensions in Georgia reached a new peak of political and social crisis. Today, the leader of the opposition party and former minister Nika Gvaramia was brutally beaten and arrested by security forces. The man was taken out of his home unconscious. At the same time, police raided the Girchi party headquarters, arresting Gela Khesaia, a prominent figure of the group, and carrying out searches at several opposition party headquarters. During these actions, medical kits and materials used by the protesters to protect themselves during the protests were confiscated.

Widespread repression against demonstrators

Protesters report that police carried out searches, detentions and seizures of gas masks at metro stations near the protest site as crowds headed towards Rustaveli Avenue. It is also reported that the sale of protective equipment, such as gas masks and helmets, was restricted earlier today.

Arrests of other prominent activists

Zviad Tsestkhaldze, founder of Dafioni, a youth organisation mobilising against the law on foreign agents, was also arrested, along with Vepkhvia Kasradze and Vaso Kabelashvili of the Strong Georgia Coalition. The ongoing political repression is unprecedented in the recent history of the country.

Protests spreading across the country

The demonstrations, which started in the capital Tbilisi, quickly spread to Batumi and Kutaisi, Georgia’s second and third largest cities respectively. Protesters, in solidarity with the arrested opposition leaders, gathered en masse in the main squares and streets. On Rustaveli Avenue, seat of the Georgian Parliament, protesters gathered for the seventh consecutive day under the slogan ‘Bidzina should be sanctioned’, in reference to Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling party, Georgian Dream.

Organisation and resistance in protests

Over the past few days, on Shota Rustaveli Avenue, the main street of Tbilisi on which the parliament is also located, protesters have confronted the police with mobile barricades and organised resistance on several levels. On the first line are demonstrators armed with fireworks, used to repel the police forces. The second line consists of young people wearing gas masks, who collect and neutralise tear gas capsules by dipping them into buckets of water or cutting plastic bottles to contain them.
In front of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, a field hospital and refreshment stations have been set up to deal with the effects of the tear gas, while protesters are offered hot soup, tea and sweets, ensuring minimal logistical support during the long days of protest.

President Zourabichvili and the appeal to Europe

The Constitutional Court of Georgia rejected the appeal filed by President Salomé Zourabichvili, thus validating the election results. The President continues to denounce the hybrid war waged by Moscow, accused of threatening the will of Georgian citizens to join theEuropean Union.

Bidzina Ivanishvili: the shadow behind the repression

Bidzina Ivanishvili, billionaire businessman and politician, is the founder of the Georgian Dream party and one of the most influential men in Georgia. Despite officially leaving active politics in 2021, Ivanishvili continues to be considered the main architect of government policy decisions.
In a pre-election interview on 22 October, Ivanishvili stated: ‘Those who are enemies of the people and the country must be banished.’, foreshadowing the current climate of repression, described by many as a kind of ‘Nuremberg trial’ against the political opposition.