On Monday, Oct. 6, Georgian prosecutors charged five opposition figures with attempting to overthrow the government following protests held two days earlier in the capital, Tbilisi.
As votes were being counted for Georgia’s local elections, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered at Freedom Square on Oct. 4, calling for what some described as a “peaceful revolution.”
However, several participants attempted to storm the presidential palace shortly before the polls closed. Riot police dispersed the crowd using tear gas and water cannons.
According to the Tbilisi-based news outlet Civil Georgia, prosecutors accused the five opposition figures of inciting a “violent overthrow” of state authorities and attempting to alter the constitutional order through force. They each face a maximum prison sentence of nine years.
The group behind the rally claimed that it was made with the goal of “peacefully overthrowing” the ruling Georgian Dream government. However, the five men were accused of calling for the “violent overthrow” of state authorities and altering the constitutional order through violence.
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“During the rally at [Freedom Square], the organizers made calls of a violent nature. Similar calls had also been voiced prior to Oct. 4,” Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, Deputy Interior MInister of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said at a briefing on Oct. 5.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that among those arrested was renowned opera singer Paata Burchuladze, who declared at the rally that “power returns to the people” and called the government “illegitimate,” according to al-Jazeera.
The others charged include Irakli Nadiradze and Murtaz Zodelava of the United National Movement opposition party, Paata Manjgaladze of the Strategy Agmashenebeli party, and retired colonel Lasha Beridze.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze vowed that more arrests would follow, accusing demonstrators of attempting to overthrow the government and blaming the European Union for interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs.
“Many more must expect sentences for the violence they carried out against the state and law enforcement,” Kobakhidze said.
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A rocky election
Last October, the Georgian Dream party took power through last year’s parliamentary elections, though the opposition called them fraudulent. Supporters of the opposition have also accused the government of authoritarianism and of seeking to draw the country back under Russia’s influence. Georgia was once part of the Soviet Union before the communist government’s downfall in 1991.
The Georgian Dream had denied such claims, though it maintained peace with Moscow and safeguarded what it called the country’s traditional Orthodox Christian values.
The party is believed to be commanded by ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who was targeted by U.S. sanctions for his supposed “promotion of Russian interests,” Reuters reported.
Relations between Georgia and Western countries have deteriorated, with the ruling Georgian Dream party announcing in November last year that it was halting talks on joining the European Union—a long-held national aspiration. The government, however, said it remained committed to discussions over EU candidacy.
The Central Election Commission reported that the Georgian Dream party won majorities in every municipal council during Saturday’s elections and achieved sweeping victories in all mayoral contests. The results were largely anticipated, as most opposition parties had boycotted the vote.
During the unrest, Civil Georgia reported that clashes erupted around the presidential palace and the Orbeliani Square close by. A rally was held on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue, where larger crowds paraded through.
As of Oct. 5, six protestors and 21 police officers were sent to the hospital, with one officer in critical condition, the Health Ministry stated.
