Water cannons and fireworks in Tbilisi protests

Police again brutally crack down on pro-European protests in Tbilisi. Protesters respond with fireworks.

Germany, Poland and France condemn the Georgian regime’s use of violence. But the prime minister defends the “fight against liberal fascism”.

Riot police attacked protesters with water cannons as fresh protests took place outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia. Friday’s demonstration was held for the ninth day in a row against the government, which has announced that negotiations with the EU on membership are being postponed.

Demonstrators responded by firing fireworks at parliament. They are turning against Prime Minister Irakli Kobachidze and the ruling Georgian Dream party’s beaten path away from the EU.

The government has responded with violent crackdowns on protesters.

Leading countries condemn

This in turn has caused France, Germany and Poland to issue a sharp warning to Tbilisi that “disproportionate force” has been used.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the disproportionate use of violence against peaceful demonstrators, as well as the targeting of the opposition and the media,” said the foreign ministers of the three countries in a joint statement.

The human rights organization Amnesty states in a report on Friday that police violence can in some cases be equated with torture, where detainees have their facial bones broken and suffer fractures and concussions.

“This recurring pattern of violence and human rights violations . . . exposes the Georgian government’s strategy of using the entire state apparatus to punish and repress dissent,” says Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty’s deputy director for Eastern Europe.

Liberal fascism

But Prime Minister Kobachidze praised the efforts of the security forces, saying they “successfully neutralized the protesters’ ability to use violence.”

– The fight is not over. Liberal fascism in Georgia must be completely defeated, and our work towards that goal must continue.