UPDATE: Interior Ministry denies using tear gas, says police used 'proportional force' against demonstrators
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Updated at 23:07
Georgian Deputy Interior Minister Kakhaber Sabanadze has denied using tear gas against demonstrators in front of the Central Election Commission today, calling it disinformation.
MIA calls on all citizens, organizers & participants of the rally to adhere to requirement of law & follow the rightful demands of the #police. Any violation of the law will be immediately foiled by the police, within the frames of the law
— MIA of Georgia (@MIAofGeorgia) November 8, 2020
Full statement: https://t.co/ZXLXzzaOVk
Meanwhile, opposition politicians who have been marching from Rustaveli Avenue to the Central Election Commission (CEC) said they will not step back and remain committed to their demands.
Earlier at 22:25
Police have used tear gas against the demonstrators who gathered in front of the CEC, a number of journalists and civilians have reported.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has recently released a statement saying that police have been ensuring public order at the protest rally throughout the day as well as protecting the freedom of expression of its participants.
Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
However, the ministry said, by the end of the day, the demonstrators ‘tried to break into’ the building of the CEC.
Considering that the demonstrators used forceful measures and disobeyed police orders, the interior ministry used proportional force within the law”, the statement reads.
The ministry calls on the organisers and participants of the protest rally to maintain public order and obey the demands of police, otherwise, ‘any violation of law will be immediately prevented’.
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has called the developments at the CEC ‘extremely unfortunate’. She said the demonstrators were not properly warned that police was going to use water cannon, which is against the law.
Police also have no right to use force, even after being warned when the action does not go beyond the law. I call on the police to stop and not to use disproportionate force against the protesters”, Lomjaria said.
Prior to the incident at the CEC, the Public Defender had called upon the ruling party and opposition to ‘immediately start negotiations to find the way out of the political crisis caused by electoral violations’.
Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
Earlier at 21:51
They previously used water cannons to disperse demonstrators who marched from central Rustaveli Avenue to the building of the CEC after ruling Georgian Dream party leaders rejected opposition demands to dismiss CEC chair Tamar Zhvania and hold repeat elections.
Police have used water cannons to disperse demonstrators who marched from central Rustaveli Avenue to the building of the Central Election Commission (CEC) after ruling Georgian Dream party leaders rejected opposition demands to dismiss CEC chair Tamar Zhvania and hold repeat elections.
Civilians started to throw stones in response to the police, which had been mobilised around the CEC while the demonstrators were marching. Police continue to use water cannons to those approaching the CEC fence, preventing them from entering the area.
Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
Condemning the police for using force against peaceful civilians, demonstrators claim they will not stop protesting until their demands are satisfied.
Opposition politicians and their supporters gathered in front of the parliament of Georgia earlier today demanding free and fair repeat elections be held, CEC chair Tamar Zhvania be dismissed and fair composition of election commissions be ensured, and all political detainees be released.
Refusing to take up their parliamentary mandates, they called on the ruling party to speak with them by 8 p.m. today along with international partners.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria condemns the illegal acquisition and release of audio recordings allegedly involving Georgian opposition politicians, which were published by Ukrainian media outlet Obozrevatel on November 6.
Opposition politicians and their supporters have gathered in front of the parliament of Georgia on Rustaveli Avenue, demanding repeat parliamentary elections be held. Claiming that the Central Election Commission (CEC) has falsified the results in favour of the ruling Georgian Dream party, opposition politicians are calling on the public to ‘protect their vote’.
Georgian police have detained two individuals for offering a bribe to the head of the Isani No. 5 district election commission (DEC) on behalf of a political political party, asking him to step down from his position and claim that the recent parliamentary elections were rigged.
The United States Embassy and the European Union delegation to Georgia have released a joint statement today calling on all Georgians who plan to exercise their right to assembly on November 8 ‘to do so peacefully and with respect to COVID-19 precautions’. They also call on the Georgian authorities to assist in providing such an environment.
Local non-governmental organisations Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre (EMC), Transparency International Georgia (TI) and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) call on the interior ministry not to use police forces against peaceful demonstrators. Meanwhile, opposition politicians, who refuse to take their parliamentary mandates and demand to hold repeat parliamentary elections, plan to stay at the CEC overnight.
During the protest rally on November 8, police detained 19 individuals for 'violating public order and disobedience to a rightful command of the police.’
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has responded to the opposition’s election-related rally yesterday and stated that ‘every process seeking to take matters to the street, like what we saw yesterday, must be, on our own initiative and that of our strategic partners, transferred onto a legal and political platform.’
In a joint statement Transparency International Georgia (TI), the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) and the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) say that although Georgia’s parliamentary elections were a clear setback for the country and the worst elections held under the Georgian Dream government, they believe that there is still a chance to find a way out of the political impasse through dialogue.
The leader of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Grigol Vashadze has called on other opposition parties to sit at a table with the ruling Georgian Dream party to resolve election-related complications.