An elderly woman showed courage, standing up to a line of police during a pro-EU protest in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi.
Thousands of people raced to Freedom Square and Rustaveli Avenue last night in response to the ruling party’s decision to put talks on Georgia’s bid to join the European Union back until 2028.
Crowds clashed with police, while some of the demonstrators unleashed fireworks at officers shouting ‘Russians’ and ‘Slaves’.
In the midst of the chaos, the woman stepped forward against riot shields as police deployed water cannons and tear gas against demonstrators.
Footage shows her scolding the officers for ‘protecting those sitting at the top,’ referring to the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party, often referred to as ‘Vladimir Putin’s puppets’.
Georgian journalist Samira Bayramova shared the video, translating what the woman says: ‘I understand, but why don’t you understand? You are now protecting those sitting at the top, their palaces.
‘How did they get so many palaces… Who are Georgian Dream, where did they come from..?’
By the end of the night, several thousand protesters had massed outside parliament and the ruling party’s headquarters, blocking roads.
Prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the long sought after bid to join the EU will not be on the agenda for another four years.
This came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the October 26 election, citing major irregularities leading to ‘neither free nor fair’ elections.
The EU gave Georgia candidate status in December 2023, but has said that a raft of laws passed by Georgian Dream since, including curbs on ‘foreign agents’ and LGBT rights, are authoritarian, Russian-inspired, and obstacles to EU membership.
Foreign and domestic critics of Georgian Dream say the party, which is seen as dominated by its billionaire founder, ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, is steering Georgia back towards Russia, from which it gained independence in 1991.
Opinion polls show most Georgians dislike Russia, which continues to back two breakaway Georgian regions and defeated the nations in a five-day war in 2008.
Local media reported that protests that erupted in several provincial cities.
Entire groups of protesters were dragged away by police, while as many as 22 journalists were injured by officers and their cameras shattered.
Alexander Keshelashvili, a journalist from publika.ge, had his nose broken and his equipment confiscated. He was also detained by the police.
Georgia’s president Salome Zourabichvili also marched up to officers, who refused to talk to her.
‘Do you serve Georgia or Russia?’, she was heard asking them.
Zourabichvili confirmed that she stood with the Georgian media, ‘against which disproportionate force is being used’.
As a pro-EU critic of Georgian Dream whose powers are mostly ceremonial, she said the ruling party had ‘declared not peace, but war against its own people, its past and future’.
Her term ends in December, and Georgian Dream has nominated a former lawmaker with hardline anti-Western views to replace her.
The opposition says that an October election, in which official results gave the Georgian Dream bloc almost 54% of the vote, was fraudulent and have refused to take their seats.
Meanwhile, Western nations have called for a probe into alleged violations.
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