Tbilisi, Georgia
AP
—
Police in Georgia used water cannons and pepper spray on Saturday to push back protesters who tried to storm the presidential palace, because the South Caucasus nation held a municipal election boycotted by the primary opposition blocs amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Tens of 1000’s rallied within the capital, Tbilisi, to protest repressive insurance policies by the governing get together, Georgian Dream, which they see as trying to pull Georgia away from its democratic aspirations and into Russia’s orbit.
They carried Georgian flags and placards supporting membership within the European Union, a cherished objective for a lot of that has been enshrined within the nation’s structure.
Georgian Dream halted talks about becoming a member of the bloc final 12 months, triggering waves of protests which were met with mass arrests and police violence. The transfer got here after the longtime ruling get together declared victory in an election the opposition mentioned was rigged.
The rallies, massive and small, have continued regardless of a multipronged crackdown by the federal government by means of legal guidelines that focus on demonstrators, rights teams, nongovernmental organizations and impartial media. Critics say some have been modeled on laws handed in Russia, the place President Vladimir Putin has harshly stifled dissent.
“We fight for our rights, for independence,” protester Sophio Asatiani advised The Associated Press on Saturday. She mentioned that she didn’t need to see a return to the Soviet period, when Georgia was dominated from Moscow.
The rally’s organizers, together with veteran opera singer Paata Burchuladze, known as on protesters to “take power back into the hands of the people,” channelling widespread frustration with a authorities that has jailed key opposition figures, tried to shut down vital media and used mass arrest and steep fines in opposition to largely peaceable demonstrators.
Some then tried to power entry into the presidential palace in central Tbilisi, smashing the gate earlier than being pushed away by riot police.
The opposition had promised a “peaceful revolution” earlier than Saturday’s municipal election, boycotted by most events vital of Georgian Dream. Preliminary information from the Central Election Commission pointed to lower than 30% turnout within the first half of the day.
Giorgi Rukhadze, a political analyst in Tbilisi who was one of many protesters marching on Saturday, dismissed the vote as a “mock election.”
“The only way to put (Georgian Dream) out of power peacefully is non-obedience, noncompliance,” he mentioned, arguing that folks ought to be part of any types of peaceable protests out there to them.
Georgian police on Saturday mentioned the continued rally violated Georgian legal guidelines that regulate public assemblies and protest. It didn’t present specifics.