05.12.2024, Tbilisi.
For the first time in a week, an opposition protest outside the parliament building in Tbilisi ended without police pressure, RIA Novosti reported on December 5.
According to the reports, on the night of December 5, several thousand protesters remained near the Georgian parliament. They blocked traffic on Rustaveli Avenue, but the police, having blocked a number of side streets and approaches to Rustaveli and Freedom Squares, did not intervene. Closer to the morning, the protesters began to disperse on their own, while several dozen protesters remained on Rustaveli Avenue, burning fires and singing songs.
It is reported that the police are removing water cannons from Freedom Square, and traffic has been partially restored. Rustaveli Avenue is littered with garbage, and several stores have smashed windows.
On December 3, former Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze and former Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli responded to the proposal from Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze to have a public discussion regarding the decision to suspend European Union (EU) accession talks until 2028. However, on December 4, opposition representatives refused to participate in the discussion. The day before, Mamuka Mdinaradze, executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, predicted a similar scenario. At a briefing, he said that the opposition would come up with “any reason not to debate with Kobakhidze.”
Opposition protests in Georgia began after Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of government, signed a resolution on November 28 to suspend EU accession talks until 2028.
Since that day, protest rallies have gathered near the parliament every evening. The radical protesters have been damaging the city’s infrastructure, throwing stones, bottles, iron, and other objects, as well as Molotov cocktails at the police and special forces, and shooting at law enforcement officers with pyrotechnics. In response, the police are limiting themselves to using water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
