Thousands of opposition supporters gathered outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi on Sunday (April 9) amid growing criticism of the government, accused of pro-Russian authoritarian drift.
At the call of the main opposition formation, the United National Movement (UNM) founded by the imprisoned ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, the demonstrators waved Georgian, Ukrainian and European Union flags, behind a large banner “For a European future”. “Long live Misha!” »they chanted, referring to the nickname of Mr. Saakashvili, who is serving a six-year prison sentence for “abuse of power”, and whose state of health has continued to deteriorate in recent months.
The demonstrators demand the “release of political prisoners and implementation of reforms” wanted by the European Union to grant Tbilisi the status of candidate for membership, launched the president of the UNM, Levan Khabeichvili. The government of the ruling Georgian Dream party is accused of imprisoning opponents, silencing independent media, secretly collaborating with the Kremlin and seeking to hijack the country from the European Union.
“We are part of the European family”
“The government is controlled from Moscow and our obligation is to save our homeland from Russian minions”said former President Giorgi Margvelashvili: “We love freedom, we are part of the European family, we reject Russian slavery. » “Our fight will be peaceful but uncompromising and will take us where we belong, the European Union”painter Luka Kavsadze, 27, told Agence France-Presse, among the protesters.
Under pressure from monster protests, the government last month backed away from a Russian-inspired bill to classify as “foreign agents” NGOs and media receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad. The United States announced on Wednesday April 5 that it had banned four Georgian judges, accusing them of having abused their functions to serve the interests of an oligarch.
Along with Ukraine and Moldova, Georgia applied for European Union membership days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory in late February 2022. In June, the European Union granted official candidate status in Kyiv and Chisinau, but asked Tbilisi to implement reforms first.