TBILISI -- An opposition rally is under way in Tbilisi outside Georgia's Appeals Court, the fourth protest in as many days against the results of parliamentary elections claimed by the ruling Georgian Dream party amid allegations of widespread fraud.
The opposition, which has refused to recognize the result, has been holding large protests in Tbilisi after the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for the past 12 years, claimed victory with 54 percent of the vote.
Georgia's pro-European president, Salome Zurabishvili also refused to recognize the validity of the results, alleging massive fraud and Russian interference.
The protest in Tbilisi came after a court in the central city of Gori on November 6 rejected a petition by election monitors calling for the annulment of results in several election precincts in the city, where violations of the vote's confidentiality were observed during the October 26 parliamentary election.
A coalition of monitoring organizations known as My Voice filed a petition in the Gori court against the Central Election Commission (TsSK) calling for the annulment of results in 14 of the city's precincts where violations had been documented.
My Voice has said its observers from 1,131 precincts said there were more than 900 cases of violations of election procedures.
But presiding judge Nino Gogatishvili refused to accept the petition after five hours of hearings, prompting representatives of My Voice to say they will appeal the decision in the Appeals Court.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered outside the Appeals Court where complaints are being filed against decisions by lower courts that rejected requests to annul votes because of fraud. Opposition leaders were banned from attending the Appeals Court proceedings, prompting them to protest outside the building.
"I am a citizen of Georgia, the court proceedings are under way, they are public, so you must let me in. You are breaking the law now, you know it better than me.... You are not in Russia, are you?" Anna Dolidze, one of the leaders of the Strong Georgia party, told police blocking the entrance.
Another opposition leader, Giorgi Vashadze of the Unity -- National Movement bloc, demanded that dubious votes be annulled.
"We demand that the court recognize the right to secrecy of the vote, guaranteed by the constitution of Georgia, which was utterly violated, and annul the election results. The first precedent was created in the Tetritskaro court. It was confirmed that the election results were falsified. We won, and someone is trying to steal this victory," Vashadze told RFE/RL.
"The protest will continue without interruption, it will not stop until we celebrate the final victory that the people gave us."
In Tetritskaro, Judge Vladimir Kuchua ruled in favor of the complaint filed by a civic group called the Young Lawyers' Association, deciding to annul the result at 30 polling stations based on evidence presented by the group.
The TsSK challenged his decision, declaring them unfounded, prompting the opposition in turn to challenge the commission's ruling at the Appeals Court.
Kuchua has been hailed by the opposition as a rare, courageous magistrate to go against Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012.
Zurabishvili also protested on X.
"The Tbilisi Appeals Court has denied political parties their right to enter the chamber where the election frauds are judged !!!! That is justice as the « Georgian dream » sees and practices it…" Zurabishvili said.
Nika Melia, one of the leaders of Coalition for Change, has said demonstrations will continue for new elections.
"In the coming days and weeks, our task is to fill Tbilisi with people. All major squares, streets, avenues should be full of people," Melia said.
Another opposition group, the Girchi Party, has also joined the call for fresh elections, arguing that the confidentiality of the vote had been violated on October 26.
The party, which did not pass the 5 percent threshold needed to enter parliament, has scheduled a rally outside the parliament building for November 9 and urged the TsSK to call new elections within one week. It has also appealed to Georgia's Western partners not to recognize the results of the vote.