Chaos and Crackdowns in Georgia: A Recap of What’s Happened Since Election Day
A protester burns the flag of the Georgian Dream party in front of Parliament.
12/5/24
By: Daniel Miller
The eighth day of anti-government, pro-European protests in Tbilisi, Georgia, will take place tonight. The past week has been filled with brutal police violence, mass arrests of party leaders and activists, and a wave of resignations by a few high-ranking government officials. Hundreds of human rights abuses have been reported and journalists have been deliberately targeted for doing their jobs. Here is a detailed recap of what has happened in Tbilisi from October 26th to December 5th.
Accusations of Election Rigging
The country first held parliamentary elections on October 26th, in which the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party declared victory after gaining 52% with 30% left to be counted, including Tbilisi, the staunchly pro-European capital city. Facing a barrage of nationwide claims over voter irregularities, intimidation, and ballot stuffing – with one such incident having been recorded and the suspect subsequently arrested – GD declared victory with 54% of the vote. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, also a GD member, flippantly dismissed the claims, telling a reporter that “irregularities happen everywhere, in every country.”
The United National Movement, a coalition of oppositional parties, presented eleven cases addressing the concerns that judges with close ties to the ruling party all soon dismissed. The results have still gone unrecognized by the international community except for the leaders of Russia, Hungary, Venezuela, and China – four staunchly anti-democratic and anti-Western leaders, meaning that the current government is illegitimate in the eyes of the rest of the world.
Two days later, in response, hundreds of people assembled in front of the parliament building along Rustaveli Avenue, 500 meters north of the historic Freedom Square, which stands as a symbol of freedom against the oppressive thumb of its imperialistic northern neighbor. Opposition leaders took turns speaking to the crowd, encouraging them to continue calling for another round of parliamentary elections to be conducted while being monitored by international observers.
Sporadic protests resumed over the next thirty days, blocking roads in front of Parliament and other critical areas throughout the city, including a round-the-clock occupation of an important intersection at Tbilisi State University. On the morning of Wednesday, November 20th, police fought and detained several protesters as they cleared the area of tents using a water canon.
On the morning of Monday, November 25th, several thousand people gathered in front of Parliament in what was initially supposed to be an attempt at preventing newly elected Members of Parliament (MP) from entering the building to conduct the first legislative session. Every MP from the opposition abstained from the legislative session because doing so would lend legitimacy to the current government. With heavy police protection, members of the GD managed to enter the building several hours later than planned. As the session took place, protesters jeered as they watched a broadcast on a big screen set up out front. This prompted protesters to rush to the front of parliament and bang their fists and objects against the metal barricade to both disrupt the session and express their anger and frustrations at GD. This went on well into the evening after the MPs had left the building.
The Big Announcement
On Thursday, November 28th, Kobakhidze announced that he would suspend negotiations to join the European Union (EU) until late 2028, accusing Brussels of blackmail and setting off a firestorm of backlash, as EU accession is enshrined in the constitution and was a direct and key campaign promise by GD. Hours later, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in front of Parliament and north on Rustaveli Avenue, a size exponentially larger than the previous numbers combined. On the third consecutive day, aerial photographs led many to estimate the number was close to 200,000 people, equaling roughly ⅙ of the entire city. While it’s impossible to know for certain how many attended, the difference was palpable as I attempted to navigate through the side streets and surrounding blocks.
But the people of Tbilisi haven’t been alone in this, not by a long shot. Large protests have also taken place every night in other cities, with some even happening in smaller villages around the country as both a sign of anger and solidarity.
The Violence
Whenever mass protests occur in front of Parliament, the police are instructed to protect the two side streets that run perpendicular to Rustaveli Avenue. Sometimes the north side will be left open with the police units tucked away in the back corner, but they eventually make their way down to Rustaveli Avenue after several hours. Large, fortified vehicles equipped with water cannons serve as the biggest method of attack against the protesters as they slowly make their way down the hill, escorted by the authorities. After hours of periodically fighting and snatching some rowdy, but mostly peaceful protesters from the front lines, they begin spraying people with water after issuing a warning to disperse.
For at least two out of the seven days of protests, unidentified irritants were added to the water, causing vision and respiratory issues in many people, a few of them severe. Paramedics need this knowledge so they can properly treat those affected, but the government has so far refused to even acknowledge the water was laced with anything in the first place. I was lucky not to have been directly sprayed by the canon, but the air is thick with the chemical irritants once it stops.
From there, tear gas is periodically and indiscriminately deployed into the crowd, sometimes dropping into a peaceful crowd far away from any action at all, with the understanding that it could easily cause a stampede. This happened to me on Saturday, the night with the biggest crowd. I was standing across the street at the intersection near the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts and Kashueti St. George Church when one canister landed several meters away on my right side. As I turned to make my way down the street, another one landed in front of me. Then another one. Luckily, I was wearing two KN95 COVID masks and was equipped with a small gas mask. I was able to quickly maneuver through the crowd and into safety. Others weren’t so lucky and were left barely able to breathe, many of whom were older adults. My eyes burned for about fifteen minutes before the pain subsided.
There is also the issue of lasers. While laser pointers are commonly used by protesters to irritate the authorities, the laser they use on the protesters is way more sinister. Their green and purple lasers are used to “paint” people in the crowd. The mark is visible via the helmets of the special forces and is used as a signal to administer more severe beatings.
Eventually, the authorities warn the crowd to disperse or face consequences and begin pushing them north along Rustaveli Avenue. This is when a unique form of modern warfare begins, as organized revolutionary groups move to the front lines to fight the special forces with pyrotechnics and hurling tear-gas canisters back at them. Sometimes the canisters are neutralized by dropping them in large water jugs. Barricades are erected using literally anything that’s around, from dumpsters to street signs to benches and everything in between. Fires are started in the street as the rest of the crowd hangs back in support, peacefully. Occasionally, a gas canister makes its way to the front of the peaceful crowd.
This action continues until almost daybreak, which is when the crowd finds itself trapped and encircled by special forces who secretly mobilize along the side streets. Once daybreak hits, they beat and detain as many peaceful protesters as possible. On Monday morning, police and special forces chased protesters around the city on foot for several kilometers, sometimes attacking people who weren’t even protesting.
On Monday, December 2nd, a deaf man who left the protest early was severely beaten while eating food on his way home. It’s reported that he was ambushed by officers coming out of a building (if you click the link for the story, scroll down to “03 Dec 2024, 20:09”).
Dr. Vato Gvazava was severely beaten unconscious twice after he was caught administering aid to two girls lying on the ground. A “brilliant traumatologist” according to Dr. Jaba Zarkua, who witnessed the event and said that Gvazava:
…rushed over with betadine to fulfill his duty as a doctor. At that moment, the bloodless ones (a term referring to brutal police) came over and started beating him. When his friend shouted, ‘He's a doctor, what are you doing?!’ the rabid dogs yelled to their superior, ‘Boss, what should we do?’ With the boss's involvement, they beat him a hundred times harder after learning he was a doctor.
The sequence of the beating went like this: a van full of riot police, loss of consciousness. Another van, loss of consciousness again. Keep in mind that Vato is physically strong, so making him lose consciousness is no easy task.
Another noteworthy detail – they stole his cross, his phone, and his car keys."
There have been at least 319 reported cases of human rights abuses since Thursday, November 28th. At least 59 journalists have been either physically assaulted or verbally attacked, but mostly physically. A German journalist I met almost lost an eye from a rubber bullet, suffering a skull fracture and requiring emergency surgery. Other journalists have been beaten mercilessly and left hospitalized.
There have been numerous accounts from people who have reported their mobile phones disappearing after their release with no explanation of what happened to them. Many journalists have had their equipment broken.
Conspiracy theorists have been quick to capitalize on a statement made by GD party leader Mamuka Mdinaradze, in which he stated that 30% of those who have been detained are foreign nationals, as definitive proof of a Western-backed coup attempt. The major problem with this assertion is that most of them were Russian citizens.
Mass Arrests, Resignations, and Exposure
A wave of mass arrests was made on Wednesday, December 5th, in which the homes and offices of opposition leaders, political activists, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were targeted. Massive amounts of fireworks, eggs, gas masks, and other items were allegedly confiscated from many of them. Opposition party leader Nika Gvaramia was beaten unconscious and then carried into a car, where he was taken to a facility 60 kilometers away. His condition is still uknown.
Many of those in important government positions have resigned, including Irakli Shaishmelashvili, a senior official within the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the department responsible for the beatings. As I am writing this report, Georgian journalist Marika Mikiashvili recently announced that “the head of the department responsible for dispersals resigned together with his 4 deputies, and so did the police psychological preparation staff, around 12 persons [total]. In general, there are reports of dissent within the police.”
Georgian media outlet Mtavari Arxi published a list of over 200 names of special forces officers, claiming that the list was provided anonymously from within the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Since then, officers have been reportedly facing harassment and are afraid to go home, with many deleting their social media accounts and sleeping on their shields.
