Georgian police have arrested a prominent opposition leader after using water cannon and teargas to scatter anti-government protesters who rallied outside parliament for a fourth consecutive night.
The protests were sparked by the government’s announcement last week that it was suspending talks on joining the EU. Critics saw that as confirmation of a Russian-influenced shift away from pro-western policies, something the ruling party denies.
The Coalition for Change, the country’s largest opposition party, said in a post on X that Zurab Japaridze, one of its leaders, was arrested by police early on Monday as he was leaving the demonstration.
Footage showed Japaridze being placed in an unmarked vehicle by masked police. It was not clear if he would be charged with any offence.
The US and the EU have voiced alarm at what they see as democratic backsliding by Georgia, a country of 3.7 million people that lies at the intersection of Europe and Asia and was once part of the Soviet Union.
Moscow denies interfering in its neighbour, but a former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, warned on Sunday that Georgia was “moving rapidly along the Ukrainian path, into the dark abyss”, adding: “Usually this sort of thing ends very badly.”
On Sunday night, protesters gathered again in Tbilisi on the central Rustaveli Avenue. Some tossed fireworks at police, who responded with volleys of water cannon and teargas.
“I’m here for a very simple reason, to defend my European future and the democracy of my country,” said one of the protesters, Nikoloz Miruashvili.
Police eventually ended the standoff by moving protesters away from the parliament building.
Georgia’s interior ministry said 21 police officers had been injured during the overnight protest, with 113 hurt since the beginning of the unrest. The prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, accused the opposition of “coordinated violence” aimed at overthrowing the constitutional order.
Dozens of protesters have also been injured since the latest demonstrations began, and the US has condemned what it called the excessive use of police force.
Georgia’s president, Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU figure who backs the protesters, said many of those arrested had suffered head and face injuries as a result of beatings. “This is the revolt of an entire country,” she told the French news group France Inter.
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Hundreds of diplomats and civil servants have signed open letters protesting against the decision to suspend talks with the EU and stop receiving any funds from the bloc for four years. At least four Georgian ambassadors have resigned.
Ilia Topuria, a martial arts fighter with a large following in the country, wrote in an Instagram post: “I am opposed to the decision to terminate our accession negotiations to the European Union. I am ashamed to see how the children of Georgia are treated. This is not called freedom.”
Zourabichvili has called for pressure to be brought on the constitutional court to annul elections won by the ruling party, Georgian Dream, last month. Both the opposition and Zourabichvili say the poll was rigged.
Zourabichvili, whose powers are mainly ceremonial, says she will not leave office when her term expires this month because the parliament that will choose her successor is illegitimate.
The election commission says the vote was fair. The prime minister on Sunday said Zourabichvili was reacting emotionally to the opposition’s election defeat and would have to leave the presidential palace at the end of the month.
Tensions in Georgia have been building for months as the ruling party passed laws on “foreign agents” and on curbing LGBTQ+ rights. Georgian Dream says it is acting to defend the country’s sovereignty against outside interference and prevent the west from dragging it into a war with Russia.