Nov. 19, 2024, 6:24 p.m.
In Georgia, law enforcement officers are rhyming and beating people who disagree with the results of the country's parliamentary elections
Цей матеріал також доступний українською69
Photo: newsgeorgia
On the morning of November 19, during the dispersal of a tent city in Tbilisi, law enforcement officers detained 16 people, including representatives of the Georgian opposition.
This was reported by JAM News and Echo of the Caucasus.
All 16 detainees were captured on Chavchavadze and Melikishvili avenues. Three of them were later released. Among them was the cameraman of the opposition Mtavari TV channel , Sergei Baramidze, who was performing his official duties. His camera was smashed, and the man himself was beaten during his detention.
Protesters demanding new parliamentary elections have been blocking Chavchavadze Avenue in Tbilisi since the evening of November 17. At dawn on November 19, thousands of police officers and special forces began dispersing the protesters' tent city.
According to media reports, law enforcement officers surrounded the protesters from several sides, took away their tents and pushed them to the nearby Melikishvili Avenue. An attempt to move the protesters to another part of the street led to a confrontation, and police began to detain them.
In late October, the Central Election Commission of Georgia announced that after counting 97% of the votes, theGeorgian Dream party, which is oriented towards Russia, received the largest number of votes. However, the leader of former President Mikheil Saakashvili 's Unity National Movement party, Tina Bokuchava, said earlier that her political force would not recognize the election results. The leader of the Coalition for Change, Nika Gvaramia, also said that his party would not recognize the election results and accused the ruling party of trying to usurp power. Also, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili did not recognize the parliamentary elections and called for street protests.
Earlier on October 26, police opened a criminal case over the alleged mass ballot box stuffing at polling station #69 in the Marneuli district. This was announced at a briefing by the Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia Giorgi Kalandarishvili.