Thousands of pro-European demonstrators gathered again in front of the Parliament in Tbilisi on December 8, after the Prime Minister’s decision on November 28 to freeze the EU integration process. The former Soviet Republic has been experiencing crisis after crisis for several years. Tensions increased for eight months by the authoritarian and pro-Russian drift of power. The determination of pro-Europeans remained strong on December 8, despite the authorities’ tightening of repression.
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With our correspondent in Tbilisi, Régis Genté
In the capital of Georgiathe standoff hardens with the ruling party, the Georgian Dream of oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili. Despite the violence during the rally the day before where groups of hooded men attacked, under the eyes of the passive police, journalists, politicians and representatives of civil society, the pro-European remained mobilized this December 8 in Tbilisi. In response to the violence of the previous night, orchestrated by those in power, the demonstratorsalthough fewer in number, displayed great determination, happily singing the European anthem.
Parliament at the epicenter of the protest
In particular, they invested in the metal structure, a dozen meters high, of the end-of-year holiday tree, which the mayor of Tbilisi absolutely wants to install there, like every year, at the epicenter of the anger. who has been speaking for 11 days.
This did not anger the protesters, according to Nikoloz, a young corporate accountant, but rather sparked their creativity. “ Our mayor has decided to launch the festivities for the approaching New Year, while for 10 days the police, or so-called police, have been beating people who are here to defend their future. So, we hung photos of the faces of people who were injured everywhere. Some people have really bad head injuries. “, he says.
But this is not the time for lightness. For the first time, a sketch of a self-defense militia marched through the crowd, to fight against the men in black, perpetrators of the brutalities of the day before, under the passive gaze of the police. A militia of a few dozen hooded men, chanting slogans to encourage each other.
This former Soviet republic in the Caucasus has been in political crisis since the legislative elections of October 26, won by the ruling Georgian Dream party but denounced as rigged by the pro-Western opposition. And the decision taken last week by the government to postpone until 2028 “ the question of membership in the European Union » ignited the powder.
Thus, for 11 days, gatherings, most of them dispersed by the police using water cannons and tear gas, have multiplied. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 402 demonstrators have been arrested since the start of the demonstrations, most for “disobedience” or “vandalism”, but “more than 30” for criminal offenses such as organizing violence.
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