Police in Georgia have clashed with protesters in the capital city of Tbilisi who have disputed against last month’s election, claiming it was stolen by the government.
The protesters had set up tents and barriers at a major junction near Tbilisi State University and security and riot police detained a number of people as they moved in to clear out the area.
Georgia’s pro-Western opposition is accusing the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party of using voter intimidation and fraud to win the recently concluded parliamentary elections.
But Georgian Dream has denied rigging the vote, citing that the result has been rubber-stamped by the central election commission even though it was not corroborated by Western polling groups.
The European Union and US have backed opposition calls for an investigation into the 26 October election which was seen in Georgia as a choice between a future within the European Union or a return to Russia’s orbit.
After years of a progressively authoritarian rule under Georgian Dream, it was widely considered the most important election since Georgians supported independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets to protest against the disputed result, but the election commission’s decision on Saturday to confirm the ruling party’s victory led to more demonstrations in the centre of the capital.
The electoral commission said GD had won 53.9% of the vote and 89 seats in the 150-seat parliament. But Edison Research, one of two respected US firms who carried out exit polls for opposition TV channels, revealed the commission’s figure could not be explained “by normal variation”.
After opposition protesters, several of whom were students, set up tents and barriers near Tbilisi State University, police moved in early on Tuesday to disperse them by force.
A cameraman working for an opposition TV channel was among those arrested and several people were also hurt.
