TBILISI -- An RFE/RL journalist says he was beaten and arrested by security forces as he walked near Georgia's parliament in Tbilisi.
Jano Chkadua, a lawyer for Beka Beradze, told RFE/RL that his client said he was walking in the vicinity of an anti-government rally early on December 1 when he was seized by security personnel.
Details remain scarce, but Beradze told his lawyer he was not working at the time and was walking with friends near his home in the area of the protests sparked by a government decision this week to halt the country's European Union membership drive until 2028.
After being seen by a doctor, Beradze was transferred to a temporary detention center, Chkadua said.
Chkadua told RFE/RL that Beradze had noticeable injuries on the right side of his forehead.
"When they discovered he was a journalist at RFE/RL, they became more aggressive and began beating him. He was then thrown into a minivan with other detainees and beaten for about an hour," Chkadua alleged.
SEE ALSO: At Georgian Protests, Journalists Say They're Being Targeted And BeatenThe allegations could not immediately be confirmed.
The Ministry of Health said 44 people had been injured overnight on November 30-December 1.
More than 100 people have been arrested in the past three days, according to authorities, as Georgia has been thrown into turmoil since the Russian-friendly Georgian Dream party claimed victory in disputed parliamentary elections in October.
Pro-Europe Georgians have also been angered by an announcement from Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze that his government was suspending EU accession talks and would reject budgetary grants from Brussels "until the end of 2028."
Georgia's Interior Ministry has claimed that protesters have “verbally and physically” assaulted police officers and had thrown various objects at security forces.
However, various videos from the rally showed police beating protesters.
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Georgian Police Use Water Cannons, Tear Gas To Disperse Protesters (Video)
Reacting to the crackdown, Kobakhidze suggested on November 30 that there were "isolated" incidents of police brutality but "systemic violence" against security forces by protesters.
The United States, meanwhile, on November 30 condemned Georgian authorities for what it called "the excessive use of force by police against Georgians seeking to exercise their rights to assembly and expression."