Opposition Leader Recovering After Violent Arrest As U.S. Warns Georgia To Halt Brutality

TBILISI -- A Georgian opposition leader who was beaten unconscious during his arrest is recovering and expecting a court hearing, his lawyer said on December 5, as the United States firmly condemned the ruling Georgian Dream party's use of violence against demonstrators protesting the party's move to halt accession talks with the European Union.

Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Akhali party under the Coalition for Change umbrella, was detained on December 4 by police during searches by authorities at opposition parties' headquarters in Tbilisi and was repeatedly hit in the stomach until he lost consciousness before being dragged motionless into a police vehicle.

Gvaramia's lawyer, Dito Sadzaglishvili, said on December 5 that the opposition leader's health is "satisfactory." Sadzaglishvili said Gvaramia was arrested for "petty hooliganism and failing to comply with police orders" and a court hearing in his case should take place within 48 hours from his arrest.

Georgian Police Violently Detain Opposition Figures

Another prominent member of the Coalition for Change, activist Gela Khasaia, was also taken into custody during the police operation.

The wave of repression unleashed by the Georgian Dream government against protesters drew international condemnation as well as sanctions.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a stern warning to the Georgian Dream government, urging it "to cease its repressive tactics, including its use of arbitrary detention and physical violence" as Tbilisi was roiled by a sixth day of mass protests that were met with excessive force by riot police.

"The United States strongly condemns the Georgian Dream party's brutal and unjustified violence against Georgian citizens, protesters, members of the media, and opposition figures," Blinken said in a statement.

Blinken reaffirmed the United States' "solidarity with the Georgian people and their democratic aspirations," warning those attempting to suppress the Georgians' right to freedom "will be held to account," including through additional sanctions.

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Washington in July suspended $95 million in assistance to Georgia after the Georgian Dream-controlled parliament adopted legislation related to foreign agents that critics say was inspired by a similar Russian law used by the Kremlin to crack down on political dissent and that sparked weeks of mass protests.

Blinken's statement came after the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi on December 4 urged authorities to treat protesters with dignity as law enforcement authorities conducted raids on the offices of several Georgian opposition parties and protest leaders.

On December 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that Kyiv was imposing sanctions on 19 Georgian individuals.

Zelenskiy's move came after the three Baltic states on December 2 announced joint sanctions against 11 Georgians, including Ivanishvili and Gomelauri.

The list included Georgian Dream founder and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, State Security Service chief Grigol Liluashvili, Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, Tbilisi City Mayor Kakha Kaladze, and a number of judges and lawmakers.

Despite the growing protests, Kobakhidze has refused to back down and threatened to punish political opponents, whom he accuses of being behind violence that has occurred at the protests.

Georgia's ombudsman accused police of torturing pro-EU protesters. Levan Ioseliani, whose role is to defend citizens' rights, said he and his officials had met people subjected to "the harshest treatment" by police.

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Protesters have described to RFE/RL the brutality employed by security forces against them.

"They were hitting us in the head," protester Salome Zandukeli said, describing how she and a friend had been chased on the night of December 2 by some 25 riot police into a building in downtown Tbilisi before taking refuge in a cafe.

Activist Gia Jvarsheishvili told RFE/RL that he was thrown to the ground by charging officers and beaten before being shoved into a police van where police pushed detainees to the floor and began stomping on them.

"Suddenly, I was in unbearable pain and I realized that I had been injured. I didn't know it then, but I had a broken rib," Jvarsheishvili said.

Georgia's pro-European president, Salome Zurabishvili, who has sided with the demonstrators, said on X that many of the arrested protesters had injuries to their heads and faces. Some people were subjected to systematic beatings between arrest and transportation to detention facilities, she added.

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Georgia has been thrown into the latest wave of turmoil since parliamentary elections in October in which Georgian Dream secured 54 percent of the vote. The opposition and Western governments argued that the poll was marred by violations and Russian influence.

Kobakhidze has blamed the unrest on foreign "instructors" and tried to explain the decision to halt EU accession talks through 2028 by saying Georgia is ready for the talks, "but only with dignity and justice and without blackmail."

Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023 but relations with Brussels have soured in recent months, beginning with the adoption of a Russian-style "foreign agent" law, which critics say threatens media outlets and civil society groups. accusing them of "serving" outside powers.

A majority of Georgians support EU membership, and efforts to join the bloc are mandated in the Georgian Constitution.