Georgia’s Turbulent Night: Authorities Disperse Crowds Fighting ‘Russian Law’

As lawmakers in Georgia explored a “foreign agents” bill, which is seen as authoritarian and Russian-inspired by the opposition and Western nations, security officers in Georgia deployed water cannons, tear gas, and stun grenades against protesters outside of the parliament late on Tuesday night. This marked a major escalation of a crackdown that had begun earlier.

The demonstrators threw eggs and bottles at the police officers, who then used tear gas, water cannons, and stun grenades to force them to leave the area outside the Soviet-built parliament building. Eyewitnesses who spoke to Reuters witnessed some of the police officers physically assault the protesters.

In an image that was uploaded on X, Levan Khabeishvili, the leader of the United National Movement, which is the largest opposition party in Georgia, can be seen with his face covered with blood and with a red eye. According to a party official who spoke with Reuters, Khabeishvili was assaulted by law enforcement after he vanished from the downtown area of Tbilisi.

Around 2,000 protestors continued to block the major Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, barricading it with café tables and garbage cans after they were ordered to leave the parliament building. “Slaves” and “Russians” were yelled at the police by several individuals.

Some protestors who were attempting to prevent legislators from exiting the back entrance of parliament were cleared away by riot police earlier using pepper spray and batons.

An outspoken adversary of the government, whose powers are primarily ceremonial, the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, asserted in a post on X that the crackdown had been “totally unwarranted, unprovoked, and out of proportion,” and that the demonstrations had been peaceful overall.

The Georgian Dream party, which is currently in power, is pitted against a protest movement that is supported by opposition parties, civic society, celebrities, and the figurehead president. This measure has exacerbated the divisions that already existed in the severely split southern Caucasus country.