Police in Georgia’s capital moved in to break up a tent camp that demonstrators set up on a central thoroughfare to protest against the results of last month’s parliamentary election and demand a new vote.
The October 26 election kept the governing Georgian Dream party in power, but opponents say the vote was rigged.
Many Georgians viewed the election as a referendum on the country’s effort to join the European Union, and several large protests have been held since then.
Protesters had set up the tent camp in Tbilisi, the capital, and had vowed to stay around the clock to demand new parliamentary elections.
As police moved to disperse it, there were scuffles and several protesters were detained, according to an Associated Press (AP) reporter at the scene. Some of the demonstrators were displaying European Union flags.
“We, the citizens, are gathered here to protest against rigged elections. We have the right to freedom of assembly, the right to gather, and the right to protest the terrible processes that took place on October 26 and beyond,” protester Gigi Chikhladze told AP after the camp was dispersed.
“The legal ways to challenge the election results have been almost entirely exhausted, without an outcome. We are here to protest, and as you can see, we are being denied that right.”
Elene Khoshtaria, leader of Coalition for Change, which unites several opposition parties, vowed to continue the protests, telling AP: “There was absolutely no reason for dispersal, but it will not stop our resistance. It’s their mistake, their weakness, and they will pay the price for it. We will continue to resist as long as it takes.”
President Salome Zourabichvili, who has rejected the official results, filed a lawsuit to the constitutional court on Tuesday, arguing that two fundamental principles guaranteed by the constitution — the secrecy of the vote and its universality — were violated.
Ms Zourabichvili, who holds a mostly ceremonial position, has said Georgia has fallen victim to pressure from Moscow against joining the EU.
Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted towards Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBT+ rights.
The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely in June after the country’s parliament passed a law requiring organisations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power”, similar to a Russian law used to discredit organisations critical of the government.
The central election commission said Georgian Dream won about 54% of the vote in October. Its leaders have rejected opposition claims of vote fraud. European election observers said the election took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.
