 "Georgia moves to toughen protest laws amid political crisis")
The Georgian government is planning a set of legislative measures to impose stricter punishments for protest-related offences with some penalties extending to several years in prison. The move comes as the South Caucasus nation remains embroiled in an ongoing political crisis.
Since November, Georgians have been staging nightly demonstrations in response to the ruling Georgian Dream party’s decision to pause negotiations for European Union membership until 2028. The abrupt suspension of the country’s EU accession efforts marked a sharp departure from its longstanding aspirations.
The demonstrations have drawn a swift crackdown by police, resulting in hundreds of arrests and beatings, rights groups say. The government has defended the police actions, suggesting shadowy forces have been trying to orchestrate unrest and overthrow the authorities.
The proposed amendments will increase the length of jail sentences for minor administrative offences from 15 to 60 days, and boost fines and detention periods for petty hooliganism, insulting the police and other infractions.
Resisting, threatening and using violence against police officers would incur a prison sentence of five to 10 years.
Announcing the plans on Monday, Mamuka Mdinaradze, a senior Georgian Dream lawmaker, said the government was responding to attempts by ”external forces… to destroy and weaken the state and its institutions”.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHe did not explicitly identify the ”external forces” but suggested the U.S. embassy was encouraging the protesters.
”If anyone believes that what is happening on the streets is happening independently of the U.S. Embassy, they know nothing about what is happening on the streets,” Mdinaradze was cited as saying by the Interpress news agency.
The U.S. embassy in Tbilisi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Georgia was traditionally one of Washington’s strongest allies in the former Soviet Union, but critics say Georgian Dream is now taking the country in a more authoritarian and pro-Russian direction.
Eight protesters, including former Tbilisi Mayor Giorgi Ugulava, face up to four years in prison for attempting to block the motorway, according to charges filed by Georgian authorities on Tuesday and cited by local media.
Georgian police on Sunday arrested two opposition leaders during a street protest against the ruling party, which has been accused of democratic backsliding and of moving Tbilisi closer to Russia.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s announcement on November 28 that his cabinet would not pursue the opening of European Union membership talks with Brussels until 2028 further fuelled the demonstrations.
On Sunday, police detained the leader of the liberal pro-European Akhali party, Nika Melia, and former Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava, a prominent opposition figure, an AFP reporter saw.
The arrests were made as thousands of demonstrators attempted to block a highway entrance to the capital, Tbilisi.
Both Melia and Ugulava had spent years in prison under Georgian Dream’s rule on charges that rights groups have denounced as politically motivated.
Several other people were also detained during the protest, with at least one appearing to have been injured.
Unprecedented crisis
Georgia’s top human-rights official, ombudsman Levan Ioseliani, and Amnesty International have accused police of torturing those arrested.
A video released by the media showed Amaghlobeli slapping Batumi’s police chief in the protest. Witnesses and her lawyers say police physically and verbally abused her beforehand, and the slap was her reaction to it.
The abuse continued while in custody, when the police chief “spat in Mzia’s face and denied her access to drinking water or using the toilet,” her lawyer, Juba Sikharulidze, told AP.
Authorities were investigating the accusations, the lawyer said. The Interior Ministry has not responded to an AP request for comment.
Kobakhidze has said authorities would investigate any excessive use of force, but in Amaghlobeli’s case, her actions came “in front of cameras.”
“This crime is absolutely clear,” the prime minister said.
Amaghlobeli, who founded the independent media sites Batumelebi and Netgazeti, began a hunger strike in protest, and now Georgian and Western rights advocates say her life is in danger.
Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Amaghlobeli’s situation “requires urgent action.”
“This is not just a matter of freedom and imprisonment – this is a matter of life and death. And I very much hope that the authorities will act with the necessary speed in this extremely difficult situation,” O’Flaherty was quoted by the outlet as saying.
Amaghlobeli’s arrest has had a chilling effect on other journalists, said Nestan Tsetskhladze, editor of Netgazeti.
“If this is how they are treating the founder of the most prominent independent media, a director and media manager who is free from any political influences and influential groups, others can be treated the same way or even worse,” Tsetskhladze told AP.
Prominent actor sees a Kafkaesque scene
Another prominent Georgian jailed for taking part in protests is Andro Chichinadze, a theater and film actor. Chichinazde, 28, actively participated in the protests that reignited in November.
Police raided his home and arrested him Dec. 5, and he faces charges of “participating in group violence,” punishable by up to nine years in prison.
His lawyers say prosecutors have videos of Chichinadze swinging a stick and throwing a bottle, which they allege was hurled at him by police. They also say there is no evidence he hit anyone and no one has come forward as a victim of his alleged violence.
Chichinadze denied the accusations. At a pre-trial detention hearing, he compared himself to a “Kafka character who is on trial and could not figure out what is happening to him.”
His mother, Lika Guntsadze, called the case against her son “absurd, just absurd” in an interview with AP.
With inputs from agencies
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