Hundreds of arrests and mysterious beatings as Georgia cracks down on pro-EU protests

By Felix Light

Seventy-five-year-old Marina Terishvili's teenage son Mamuka was shot dead at a nationalist rally in Georgia in 1992. Now her other son, Giorgi, has been arrested for his role in protests against perceived Russian influence in their homeland.

Seven police cars pulled up at her house in the capital Tbilisi on Friday and took Giorgi, a 52-year-old taxi driver, into custody, she said.

He was placed in pre-trial detention for two months for "participating in group violence" according to a rights group and local media, and faces up to six years in prison if convicted, part of a broad crackdown on demonstrators who have clashed nightly with police for almost two weeks.

The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association rights group said he had not yet entered a plea and Marina Terishvili said she did not know why he had been detained.

"I can't deny that he went to the rallies, because he has a brother who died on Feb. 2, 1992, and he went there in honour of his soul," Marina said, adding that Giorgi could not tolerate the idea that his younger brother had died in vain.

Mamuka was 17 when he was killed during the brief civil war that followed Georgia's 1991 exit from the Soviet Union, which ended 200 years of rule by Russia.

Giorgi is among more than 400 people who authorities and rights groups say have been arrested during protests against government moves to delay the South Caucasus country's longstanding bid to join the European Union.

Around 30 face criminal charges, mostly relating to allegations of "group violence" aimed at overthrowing the government. Among those jailed are two leaders of the country's pro-EU opposition.

Rights groups say the crackdown is without recent precedent in Georgia, a country that had been seen as among the most pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union's successor states.

FIREWORKS

Some protesters have thrown fireworks and other projectiles at police, arguing that they are defending themselves against tear-gas and baton attacks. The interior ministry said on Monday that more than 150 police officers have been injured.

The Georgian Dream party, which officials say won elections in October the opposition says were tainted by fraud, provoked widespread anger in the country of 3.7 million when it announced last month that it was suspending EU accession talks until 2028.

Georgian Dream says it favours a pragmatic policy with Russia, which backs two regions which split from Georgia after it left the Soviet Union. The party says its aim is to safeguard peace amid the war in Ukraine, which has been shattered by Russian invading forces since early 2022.

Western countries have condemned the crackdown, and the EU's ambassador to Georgia said on Monday that it merits sanctions.

Georgia's ombudsman Levan Ioseliani, an ex-opposition politician appointed by Georgian Dream, said on Tuesday that his office has visited 327 detainees, of whom 225 said they were mistreated and 157 had visible injuries.

Police reported finding fireworks and items for making petrol bombs at two opposition party headquarters. Both parties said the items had been planted.

At a briefing on Monday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze called the parties' premises a "hotbed of violence" and said their attempt to seize power had failed.

MASKED MEN IN BLACK STAGE ATTACKS

Gangs of masked men in black have begun attacking opposition politicians, activists and some journalists in recent days.

Opposition supporters refer to the gangs as "titushky", a Ukrainian word for thugs who attacked opponents of a pro-Russian government before that country's 2014 Maidan revolution which drove the president to flee to Moscow.

Two journalists from a pro-opposition television channel suffered visible head injuries in an attack on Dec. 7 captured in their live broadcast from a protest.

The same day, Koba Khabazi, a prominent member of the Coalition for Change opposition party, was left with extensive head injuries after being attacked inside the building that houses his party's headquarters.

CCTV footage obtained by Reuters shows around 15 black-clad men entering the building and confronting Khabazi, who they push down a staircase, before punching and kicking him in the head as he lies on the ground, motionless.

Speaking to Reuters two days later, Khabazi, a 57-year-old former lawmaker, blamed the Georgian government for the attack.

"Of course, the government is behind this," said Khabazi, his head still swathed in bandages. "This government is built on violence."

Georgian authorities have said they are not involved in the attacks, and condemn them. Ruling party officials have suggested they are carried out by the opposition to frame Georgian Dream.