Georgia: 25 people arrested after protest against parliament decision
Georgian opponents wave the national flag after the announcement of the resignation of Prime Minister Guiorgui Gakharia on February 18, 2021. AFP - VANO SHLAMOV
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In Georgia, 25 protesters were arrested on Friday.
This is a new episode in the crisis the country is going through, which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Guiorgui Gakharia on Thursday.
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With our correspondent in Tbilisi,
Régis Genté
The latest turmoil in
Georgia's political crisis
is linked to the ruling party's decision this week to lift the parliamentary immunity of Nika Mélia, the leader of the main opposition party.
This case raises the question of the democratic dynamic that animates Georgia, which is an exception in the former Soviet space, still very influenced by the authoritarianism of the regime of neighboring Russia.
The demonstrators wanted to set up tents in front of the seat of the Parliament, on the avenue Roustavéli, the elegant artery of the center of Tbilisi.
It is there that for three decades all the political movements, demonstrations and other revolutions that shake the small republic of the South Caucasus have taken place.
They wanted to protest against
the government's decision to lift the immunity of Nika Mélia
, the leader of the United National Movement, the main opposition party.
The police did not hear it that way and set out to dismantle the tents and arrested 25 activists during the day.
The ruling Party, controlled by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, is accused by human rights defenders of having violated the law, which is nevertheless very permissive in Georgia in terms of the right to assembly.
Tired of the occupation of the Parliament square by various protest movements in recent years, the authorities have recently used the pretext of urban development work, in particular imposing modern-style green bins, in order to compress this space, undoubtedly the more political of the young Georgian democracy.
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