Police violence // According to the Public Defender of Georgia (Ombudsperson’s Office) that I visited while in Tbilisi, 225 out of 327 detainees interviewed by their representatives claimed to have been victims of ill-treatment and 157 of them had visible physical injuries.

Some statistics about police violence

Along with the beatings, the special forces robbed the detainees, took away their clothes, shoes, mobile phones, bags, wallets, glasses, crosses and other personal belongings – they forced them to say derogatory phrases about themselves or to praise head of the Special Tasks Department, Zviad Kharazishvili (“Khareba”). In some cases, Kharazishvili personally recorded videos of the beaten detainees, the heads of several civil society organizations said in a joint statement.

To crack down on tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators, the Ministry of Internal Affairs used special equipment, including unknown substances diluted in water jets, pepper spray, tear gas of an unknown substance, and others.

In some cases, before the crackdown began, a special water jet vehicle approached the demonstrators, and a special warning/call to disperse was heard. In some cases, the crackdown on demonstrations began with direct pursuit and arrests of demonstrators, and a warning signal and other means of crackdown were used later.

After using the water jets, the special forces fired a large number of tear gas capsules at tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators, which made breathing and vision impossible, caused panic, and created a real threat of stampede and chaos.

In a number of cases, peaceful demonstrators who obeyed the call to disperse were ambushed, surrounded, and detained by special forces.

Special forces physically abused detainees, and after they were brought into the special forces cordon, law enforcement officers continued to physically abuse them.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili at the European Parliament

On 18 December, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili delivered a speech to the European Parliament in which she called for active steps to be taken by the EU. About the recent rigged parliamentary election, she compared the current events in Georgia to the Soviet occupation of 1921 and was quoted as saying:

Zurabishvili also stressed in her address to the Parliament that Georgians are not going to accept the Russification of their country and will not stop until they receive new free and fair elections, but for this, they need Western help.

Speaking about the 21 days of protests in Georgia, she said that the protest movement has now encompassed the entire society. She also noted that the protests began earlier, after the adoption of Russian-type laws, and said

“The only time when people in Georgia take to the streets is when they feel that an existential issue is at stake. This is a very peaceful, civil disobedience movement that demands two things: give us back the votes taken away due to the stolen elections and give us back our European future. This is not a revolutionary movement, this is a demand for new elections.”

She also stressed that the attempted construction of a Russian-type state in Georgia is something that is happening gradually and that a large part of the Georgian democratic institutions is already under control of a single-party or one-man rule.  Only the opposition media and human rights NGOs are still out of their hand, but for how long.

“Georgians are still waiting for tough measures from Brussels and Washington. And I hope we will not have to wait for a deeper crisis for Europe to act. What can Europe do? First of all, political support. We need constant political attention from the highest levels, because Georgians need to know that they are not alone and that we have your back,” she said.

While the European Parliament called for new elections in Georgia, the EU Member States could only propose a suspension of visa-free travel for Georgian holders of diplomatic and service passports. Tougher sanctions could not be adopted because of the veto of Hungary and Slovakia.

Being asked by some people at the European Parliament who declared to be ready to help her in case she would go into exile, she answered, like President Zelensky in Ukraine in 2022, that she would stay in Georgia to fight alongside the Georgian population and the main support she needed was from the EU. Up to now, Europe has been “slow to wake up and slow to react,” she said, while the Georgians need the EU to act quickly and to avoid a ‘business as usual’ policy.

Over 800 businesses, among them MagtiCom, PSP Pharma, Daily, McDonald’s, SPAR, Veli Store, Magniti, Toyota Center Tbilisi, Alta, PwC Georgia, and Gvirila, this week signed a statement calling for quick actions and new elections, saying “they take responsibility for the fate of the country and its irreversible progress.”

The Romanian Orthodox Church has distanced itself from the position and actions of Archbishop Teodosii of Tomi (Constanța), who openly campaigned in his diocese for Calin Georgescu as “God’s messenger.” The Archbishop does not hide that he is an admirer of Vladimir Putin, D. Medvedev and Donald Trump, “who speak of peace” and “Christian values.” The high cleric has attracted the attention of the Romanian and Western media with his undisguised campaigning in his diocese for Georgescu.

The position of the Romanian Patriarchate states: “The Romanian Patriarchate categorically distances itself from the statements of His Eminence Father Teodosii, Archbishop of Tomi, in an interview given to the publication “Le Figaro” regarding Mr. Calin Georgescu and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The next working session of the Holy Synod will consider the case of His Eminence Theodosius for the repeated violation of the decisions of the Holy Synod regarding the election campaigns.”

In an interview with the French publication published on December 6, Archbishop Theodosius said of the former candidate for president of Romania, Calin Georgescu, that “he is more of a man of God than a politician. He is the one sent by God.” “He is a believer. The grandson and great-grandson of a priest who defends Christian values ​​and is interested in the everyday life of Romanians.” And he described Vladimir Putin as “a man of peace and a builder of churches,” “whom we should not be afraid of.” When asked by French journalists how this opinion of his corresponded to the war against Ukraine launched on the orders of the Russian dictator, the senior cleric evaded the answer, blaming the war on “the bad guys.” According to him, Georgescu, who sympathizes with Putin, “will resolve these contradictions.”

In his defense, the archbishop said that he had not violated anything, the interview should have been published after the elections, not before them. The definition of “messenger of God” was of a general nature, not political, it was made because of the personal qualities of the candidate. And about Putin, he “spoke in principle that he was a founder of churches, not specifically”. In 2006, Archbishop Theodosius admitted that he had been recruited by the “Securitate” in 1987, when he was an assistant at the Institute of Theology in Bucharest. “I think I was vulnerable because I had applied for a scholarship to study abroad,” the archbishop said, noting that he had only reported on issues “of great national interest”.

By Willy Fautré from Tbilissi – During yesterday’s demonstrations at the parliament, some citizens have brought diplomas – to mark the fact that the “Georgian Dream” presidential candidate, ex-footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, is just a puppet of the pro-Kremlin party and lacks the needed education to bear the title of “President of Georgia.”

The protesters stated that the ongoing presidential elections in the Parliament of Georgia are an illegitimate process.

President Salome Zurabishvili has also arrived at Parliament, and police and special forces have been mobilized. Ministry of Internal Affairs personnel are stationed in the area surrounded by iron railings in front of the building.

The police forces are also deployed at Freedom Square, where water cannon vehicles are on standby.

Contested election of the new president

On 14 December, the electoral college elected the president of Georgia. Only one candidate, Mikheil Kavelashvili, had been nominated for the position. Opposition parties were not participating in the elections because they considered them illegitimate.

He is the first indirectly elected president in Georgia, a position he will hold for five years.

The presence of the majority of the full composition of the electoral college – at least 151 members – was sufficient to conduct indirect elections of the president.

The vote of 2/3 of the full composition of the collegium – at least 200 members – is enough to elect a president.

The collegium includes 150 members of the parliament, all members of the highest representative body of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara – a total of 21 deputies, all 20 members of the highest representative body of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and 109 members from the city councils.

The Chairman of the Central Election Commission said 225 members participated in the vote, with 1 ballot being invalid.

Kavelashvili received 224 votes in his favor. His candidacy was not supported by Ada Marshania, a member of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia, who stated that she did not approve of Kavelashvili’s candidacy.

The procedure took place in the Parliament’s plenary session hall.

The Chairman of the CEC handed over the final protocol to the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, and declared the election process complete.

Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses to make it more repressive

This weekend, the Georgian Dream party adopted in a hurry amendments that will significantly increase sanctions for violations that the police usually use against demonstrators.

The new regulations provide for:

• Increasing the fine for obstructing traffic from 1,000 to 2,000 GEL, and suspension of driving privileges for 1 year;
• Increasing the fine for damaging the appearance of the city from 50 to 1,000 GEL and 2,000 GEL for repeat violations;
• Increasing the fine for violating the norms of assemblies and demonstrations from 500 to 5,000 GEL and a fine of 15,000 GEL or administrative imprisonment for organizers;
• Illegal wearing of an MIA uniform, punishable by a fine of 2,000 GEL and its confiscation;
• Failure of a parent or other legal representative of a child to raise and educate a minor or to fulfill other duties towards him/her. This has been added to the commission of an act provided for in Article 173 of the same Code (disobedience to a lawful request of a law enforcement officer).

The amendments also expand the grounds on which a person can be detained, and their items or documents seized.

The new government is obviously trying to intimidate the population by disproportionately increasing sanctions for actions related to gatherings, demonstrations and protests.