Georgian opposition leader detained by police and beaten unconscious, his party says

https://www.yahoo.com/news/georgian-opposition-leader-beaten-unconscious-132159151.html

by Neat-Raccoon1541

18 comments

  1. [reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/georgian-opposition-leader-beaten-unconscious-detained-by-police-party-says-2024-12-04/)

    >The leader of one of Georgia’s four main opposition parties has been detained by police after being beaten unconscious in the capital Tbilisi, his party said on Wednesday, amid reports of police raids on other opposition parties.
    The opposition Coalition for Change party published a video on X showing Nika Gvaramia, the party’s leader, being carried by the arms and legs by several men down some steps. The party said that Gvaramia, a 48-year-old lawyer turned politician, had been “thrown into a detention car as he was physically assaulted and unconscious”.

    >Reuters could not independently verify whether Gvaramia had been beaten or not, but he appeared to not be moving as he was carried down the steps in the video released by his party.
    The government’s decision to suspend EU talks has plunged the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people into political crisis and the authorities claim to have thwarted an attempted “revolution.”

    >A spokeswoman for Coalition for Change said on X that several other party members had been detained alongside Gvaramia.
    A spokesperson for the United National Movement (UNM), another opposition party, told Reuters police on Wednesday had also raided its Tbilisi offices.
    The spokesperson said the raid had been carried out without a warrant and that nobody had been detained.
    Separately, the Interpress news agency said that two members of another opposition party, Strong Georgia, had been detained by the police.

    >Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has repeatedly praised the police for their response to the protests.

    >Georgia’s public ombudsman, a former opposition politician, accused the police on Tuesday of harshly mistreating people detained during demonstrations, something their treatment amounted to torture.

  3. TBILISI (Reuters) -The leader of one of Georgia’s four main opposition parties has been detained by police after being beaten unconscious in the capital Tbilisi, his party said on Wednesday, amid reports of police raids on other opposition parties.

    The opposition Coalition for Change party published a video on X showing Nika Gvaramia, the party’s leader, being carried by the arms and legs by several men down some steps.

    The party said that Gvaramia, a 48-year-old lawyer turned politician, had been “thrown into a detention car as he was physically assaulted and unconscious”.

    The police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, and there was no immediate response to the assertion by the authorities, who have faced six nights of protests against a government decision to suspend talks on the country joining the European Union.

    Reuters could not independently verify whether Gvaramia had been beaten or not, but he appeared to not be moving as he was carried down the steps in the video released by his party.

    The government’s decision to suspend EU talks has plunged the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people into political crisis and the authorities claim to have thwarted an attempted “revolution.”

    A spokeswoman for Coalition for Change said on X that several other party members had been detained alongside Gvaramia.

    A spokesperson for the United National Movement (UNM), another opposition party, told Reuters police on Wednesday had also raided its Tbilisi offices. The spokesperson said the raid had been carried out without a warrant and that nobody had been detained.

    Separately, the Interpress news agency said that two members of another opposition party, Strong Georgia, had been detained by the police.

    Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has repeatedly praised the police for their response to the protests.

    Georgia’s public ombudsman, a former opposition politician, accused the police on Tuesday of harshly mistreating people detained during demonstrations, something their treatment amounted to torture.

    (Reporting by Felix Light; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Andrew Osborn)

  4. Could have been worse, watching the skies from a nearby window can be deadly.

  6. “The authorities claim to have thwarted an attempted ‘revolution’” – they think this is the end? Something something about the beginning of the end or something right here

  7. Does Europe have any (good) options of intervening in this? Or are the Georgian people on their own?

  10. For those who are wondering what the EU can do, what people you have voted for can do for us.

    Simply talking about this helps a lot. Raising awareness helps a lot, at the very least it will disarm right-wing propaganda in your own countries who are foaming at the mouth hoping that Georgian Dream “wins” this so they can then use it as their Euroscepticism argument that EU is incompetent.

  11. Yet another installation in their series of color revolutions

  12. Georgian people have worked so hard to be set back like this 💔

  13. Now, is the opposition leader the one financed by the usa?

  14. This is why protest don’t work no more, since wall street/Irans protests era attempts, nothing has worked. Showing force and defending your self is all that matters in this world again, not just protest it’s gotta be both. The Georgian people need to work together and fucking end these scum bags. Seriously tired of all these good people wasting their efforts just for very well equipped military not even cops anymore (compared to protest back in the day) will just kill, disperse, arrest and humiliate everyone involved with nothing accomplished. I know it’s aggressive and violence use to never be the answer but…cmon now. Nothing will change anymore unless everyone together actually does something.

  15. The only way to get rid of cancer is to get rid of it completely.

  16. It’s interesting how the police always end up becoming the enforcement arm of fascist regimes. Like, always.

  17. Do police in Georgia often wear jeans, balaclavas, and no ID number?

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