'We need new life': Protesters undeterred in battle on the streets for Georgia's future

Wednesday, 4 December 2024 03:50

By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent, in Tbilisi

On the streets of Tbilisi right now, there is a battle for Georgia's future.

On one side are protesters and pyrotechnics. On the other, is the increasingly strong arm of the law.

Flashes of pink, green and gold light up the night sky, as fireworks sparkle and rockets scream past.

Flying in the other direction are tear gas canisters. First you hear the low thud of them being fired, then the rattle and hiss as they hit the ground.

And that's not all. Water cannon, pepper spray and rubber bullets have also been deployed.

But the protesters are undeterred - building barricades out of wheelie bins, and taunting police from behind them.

For six nights now, they've massed outside Georgia's parliament, angry at the ruling party's decision to pause plans to join the EU.

People feel cheated, and they believe Russia is behind it.

"We don't need Russia," Keso told me, draped in Georgia's red-and-white national flag.

"We need USA. We need new life and new rules. Not Russia."

Georgia's prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, claims it's all just a misunderstanding - that the protestors have got the wrong end of the stick.

"We regret if anyone misunderstood our message," Mr Kobakhidze told a press conference on Tuesday.

"Our main foreign policy priority is European integration, but we will pursue this goal with dignity, fairness, and without blackmail."

But that's not what it looks like. His party, Georgian Dream, has put EU accession talks with Brussels on hold until 2028. There's simply no denying it.

And there's certainly no misunderstanding what happened to Zviad Maisashvili, who is one of dozens of protestors to end up in hospital.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, video emerged of Zviad being kicked in the head by a police officer.

The footage of the attack, which has gone viral, is sickening.

Zviad is lying in the road, clearly dazed.

An anonymous dark figure, clad in riot gear, waits for him to sit up, before swinging a boot square into the face and sending his body flopping back down.

Now out of hospital and back home, Zviad doesn't remember the kick because he was knocked unconscious.

His nose was broken, along with several teeth, and his face is now covered with a bandage.

"I just couldn't believe the policeman who is doing it," he said, through swollen lips.

"I just couldn't believe he's human."

But far from proving cautionary, the attack appears to be driving others out onto the streets.

"When I was at the hospital, I met people who were beaten up like me, and they were saying to me: 'Hey man, thank you, you're a hero'," Zviad said.

"'We've never been to a protest ever in our lives but when we saw your video, we went out and started protesting'."

Read more from Sky News:
Georgians worry about ending up like Ukraine
Ex-Russia president issues warning as protests spread

When he's healed, Zviad will join the protests again too.

Like everyone else, he's refusing to back down.

Sky News

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'We need new life': Protesters undeterred in battle on the streets for Georgia's future

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