TBILISI, Georgia — TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Police in Georgia used water cannons and pepper spray on Saturday to push again protesters who tried to storm the presidential palace, because the South Caucasus nation held a municipal election boycotted by the primary opposition blocs amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Tens of hundreds rallied within the capital, Tbilisi, to protest repressive insurance policies by the governing social gathering, Georgian Dream, which they see as attempting to tug Georgia away from its democratic aspirations and into Russia’s orbit.
They carried Georgian flags and placards supporting membership within the European Union, a cherished aim for a lot of that has been enshrined within the nation’s structure.
Georgian Dream halted talks about becoming a member of the bloc final 12 months, triggering waves of protests which have been met with mass arrests and police violence. The transfer got here after the longtime ruling social gathering declared victory in an election the opposition mentioned was rigged.
The rallies, large and small, have continued regardless of a multipronged crackdown by the federal government by means of legal guidelines that concentrate on demonstrators, rights teams, nongovernmental organizations and impartial media. Critics say some have been modeled on laws handed in Russia, the place President Vladimir Putin has harshly stifled dissent.
“We battle for our rights, for independence,” protester Sophio Asatiani instructed The Related Press on Saturday. She mentioned that she did not wish to see a return to the Soviet period, when Georgia was dominated from Moscow.
The rally’s organizers, together with veteran opera singer Paata Burchuladze, known as on protesters to “take energy again into the fingers of the individuals,” channelling widespread frustration with a authorities that has jailed key opposition figures, tried to close down essential media and used mass arrest and steep fines towards largely peaceable demonstrators.
Some then tried to power entry into the presidential palace in central Tbilisi, smashing the gate earlier than being pushed away by riot police.
