Clashes in Tbilisi: activists build barricades at night, opposition party leader claims to have been beaten by police
Kyiv • UNN
Protesters against the law "on foreign agents" built barricades overnight after police tried to disperse them, and opposition leader Levan Khabeishvili said he was severely beaten by security forces.
In the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on the night of May 1, protesters against the law "on foreign agents" began to erect barricades after security forces tried to disperse them. There are "dozens" of detainees and injured. This was reported by UNN with reference to DW and local media.
Details
The head of the Georgian opposition party United National Movement Levan Khabeishvili said he was brutally beaten by police. The MP posted a photo on his social media with a swollen eye and bruises.
Local media reported that the personal representative of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Sofo Japaridze, and American lawyer Ted Jonas were also beaten at the rally. The latter, according to the Georgian TV channel Formula, had his teeth knocked out and his nose broken. AFP reported that their photographer was beaten, despite the fact that he was clearly identified as a member of the press.
By 4 a.m., police stopped trying to disperse the demonstrators and soon left Rustaveli Avenue. The remaining protesters occupied the space in front of the parliament building, fencing off the riot police with barricades.
Addendum
Georgian police used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets against demonstrators who gathered to protest the law on "foreign agents." At least 20 people were reported injured.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has called on the country's Interior Ministry to stop dispersing peaceful protesters in Tbilisi.
Recall
The Committee on Legal Affairs of the Georgian Parliament supported the draft law on foreign agents in the second reading. The meeting was held amid heated debates between the opposition and members of the parliamentary majority.
