Former Prime Minister, Now One Of Opposition Leaders, Brutally Beaten In Georgia
8- 15.01.2025, 11:06
- 9,414
The politician has serious injuries.
Former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, who is now the leader of the opposition party “For Georgia”, was beaten in Batumi; he has a concussion and a broken nose.
This was reported by “Novosti-Gruziya”.
The attack took place at night in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel in Batumi. The circumstances preceding the incident, as well as the number of participants in the events, are not reported. According to witnesses, among the participants in the beating were Dmitry Samkharadze, a deputy of the “Power of the People”, a satellite of the ruling party, and Giorgi Manvelidze, a member of the Supreme Council of Adjara from the ruling party.
It is also reported that the police patrol arrived at the scene only 40 minutes after the call, much later than the ambulance.
The police reported that they opened a case under the article of the criminal code on beating. They did not comment on the involvement of deputies in the incident.
The hospital where Gakharia was taken for examination said that the car arrived at around 2:30 am, and after the diagnosis, he refused to stay for further treatment. The former prime minister was diagnosed with a broken nasal bone and a concussion.
In addition to Gakharia, journalist Zviad Koridze also reported being attacked in the same place. According to him, the attack took place before the incident with Gakharia, when he was sitting in the hotel lobby with his wife. The aforementioned Sakhmaradze and the woman who was with him allegedly approached Koridze and began insulting him and the United National Movement party, behaving increasingly aggressively, and then his comrades joined him. The journalist approached the security guards with a request to protect him, and, according to him, someone hit him at that time.
Last weekend, about 30 people were detained at pro-European protests in Tbilisi and Batumi.
Protests for the European future of the country and demanding repeat parliamentary elections have been going on in Georgia for almost 50 days.
The opposition forces have not recognized either the results of the parliamentary elections, the work of which they are boycotting, or the inauguration of “president” Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was not elected by direct vote for the first time. Immediately after the inauguration, Kavelashvili signed a number of laws, in particular banning masks and pyrotechnics at rallies.
The Baltic countries, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Finland have called on the Georgian authorities to stop violence against protesters and consider holding new elections.
Germany, Poland and France have called on the Georgian authorities to “sincere dialogue” with the opposition and civil society.
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