Hundreds of people took to the streets today in central Tbilisi to protest. The main demand of the participants is an international investigation to determine the special means used during the dispersal of rallies at the end of 2024, UNN reports with reference to News Georgia.
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Protesters gathered near the Tbilisi Concert Hall and headed to the Georgian Parliament building, partially blocking the roadway.
Participants carried a banner with the inscription "The regime is poisoning" – a reference to the Interior Ministry's investigation, which suggested the possible use of chemical substances by the Georgian authorities against demonstrators.
Official Tbilisi denies these accusations. The authorities conducted their own investigation, but the conclusions of the State Security Service raised new questions. The SSS stated that on December 4-5, 2024, the police used the irritant agent CS in combination with the solvent propylene glycol – a substance used by law enforcement agencies in various countries around the world – to disperse protests. However, the agency did not specify what substances were used on other days of the dispersals.
Critics of the authorities say they do not trust the results of the internal audit and insist on the involvement of international structures.
The current march was the first large-scale action after another tightening of the law on rallies, the publication adds.
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This week, the parliament, controlled by the Georgian Dream party, hastily adopted amendments that replaced the notification procedure for holding actions with mandatory coordination with the police.
According to the new rules, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has the right to change the place or route of a rally if it considers the action a threat to public order, the work of state bodies, traffic, or other citizens. Failure to comply with police requirements may result in administrative arrest for up to 15 days for participants and up to 20 days for organizers. In case of repeated violation, organizers face criminal liability – up to one year of imprisonment.
This is the fifth tightening of legislation on rallies since the end of 2024, when mass protests began in Georgia after the authorities' decision to freeze negotiations on the country's EU membership.