Tbilisi state of emergency

Mikheil Saakashvili responded to the opposition with batons and gas

The Georgian authorities put an end to their peaceful attitude towards opposition protests by harshly suppressing rallies of thousands in Tbilisi using tear gas, water cannons and batons. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who made a televised address, accused Moscow of destabilizing the situation in Georgia. And in the evening, Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli announced a state of emergency in Tbilisi. A decree on this should be submitted to parliament today or tomorrow.

Demonstrations demanding that parliamentary elections be postponed from next fall to spring began at the end of last week. The protests took place peacefully, without clashes with the authorities, although the number of protesters steadily increased. Yesterday morning, Mikheil Saakashvili's patience ran out.

At approximately 8 a.m. Tbilisi time (7 a.m. Moscow time), police detachments moved toward the demonstrators who had remained on Rustaveli Avenue for the night. Everyone is wearing yellow raincoats with hoods. They forced out the protesters, while detaining the most active ones, including the former Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Georgiy Khaindrava (the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that he was under the influence of drugs; Khaindrava was later released).

City services immediately began to clear the area in front of the parliament building. Tbilisi Mayor Georgiy Ugulava announced that life was returning to normal: “We will not allow tent cities.” But soon opposition leaders returned to the avenue and called on their supporters to hold a large-scale rally. “I was beaten, but now Mikheil Saakashvili will be beaten. The authorities will run away like hares,” promised parliament member Levan Gachechiladze. Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators on the avenue. Law enforcement officers used batons, but were unable to clear the roadway. Then special forces appeared with special equipment. The fact that the situation is critical was also evidenced by the suppression of mobile communications. In some areas of Tbilisi the power was turned off. The demonstrators greeted the riot police with raised hands, showing that they were unarmed. But this did not prevent overclocking. First, water was released on the demonstrators, and then gas was used. Among the victims were journalists, including Russian ones.

Some of the protesters rushed to the Kashveti - St. George Church on Rustaveli Avenue, but the gas reached them there too. Some took refuge in the parliament building. By the end of the day, about 500 people, including police officers, had asked for help. It was difficult to breathe on the central Rustaveli Avenue all day.

When the special forces did their job, Mikheil Saakashvili appeared on television. He explained the dispersal of the opposition as follows: “We decided that we still need to vacate the avenue in order to restore normal traffic in the city. And we, naturally, told everyone - the mayor’s office, the police - and said that let’s restore traffic on Rustaveli Avenue.” He promised that the country's leadership "will do everything to prevent mass unrest."

Saakashvili accused Russia of organizing opposition protests. At the same time, he called on the opposition “for dialogue.” But he clarified: “Except for those people who are visible in the footage.” “Personnel,” in his opinion, point to the “hand of Moscow.” Saakashvili said that the Foreign Ministry declared “persona non grata” three employees of the Russian embassy. “These people, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, are involved in intelligence activities on the territory of Georgia,” Saakashvili said. “Our intelligence services have received information about an alternative government created in Russia,” Saakashvili said. - Our people will not allow civil war - events similar to those that happened in 1991. Monitoring carried out by our special services showed that both money and instructions were coming.” The tear gas used by the authorities against the demonstrators brought opposition leaders to analogies with the events of April 9, 1989, when a peaceful rally on the same avenue was dispersed by units of the Soviet army. Then 16 demonstrators died.

The dramatic development of yesterday's events did not end with Mr. Saakashvili's speech. Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli soon after announced a state of emergency in Tbilisi. A decree on this should be submitted to parliament today or tomorrow. Demonstrations and calls in the media “to overthrow the government and organize unrest” are prohibited. Former Foreign Minister of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili told reporters that the leader of the opposition movement "Freedom" Konstantin Gamsakhurdia, the son of ex-President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, has been arrested.

Searches began in the offices of opposition parties. During the day, the broadcasting of the Imedi TV channel, founded by businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, was also interrupted. And at approximately 21:00, special forces burst into the TV channel building. The broadcast was turned off.

Opposition leaders, having lost Rustaveli Avenue, invited supporters to gather in the historical part of the city, on Europe Square, known to Tbilisi residents as Rike Square. This place is in the city center, but outside the transport arteries. At the same time, two opposition politicians - former Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili and Republican leader David Usupashvili - visited the US Ambassador to Georgia John Tefft and asked him to inform Washington about the dispersal of the peaceful rally. The special representative of the Commissioner for Foreign Policy and Security of the European Union, Javier Solana, will go to Tbilisi for negotiations with the conflicting parties.

Yesterday, a special forces column began to push the opposition out of Rike Square. This came as a surprise to the protesters, since previously the authorities had guaranteed the inviolability of protests if they did not affect the rhythm of city public life. Angry that there was no peace anywhere, some of the oppositionists took up the weapon tested by the proletariat - cobblestones. Stones flew at the special forces, who began shooting rubber bullets and again used gas and water. The opposition did not give up. They managed to capture and beat several special forces soldiers. But still the police broke the resistance. “On the anniversary of the October Revolution, the Georgian authorities showed that they are the heirs of the Bolsheviks,” said Republican MP David Berdzenishvili.

Protests in support of the opposition began in the regions.

Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze announced her readiness for dialogue with the opposition, but only after order has been restored in the city. From time to time she addressed both supporters of the authorities and opponents, urging them to come to their senses. Patriarch of Georgia Ilya II announced his readiness to act as a mediator.

However, the authorities yesterday were more concerned with the revelations of the opposition's ties with Russia. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs distributed video and audio recordings of negotiations between some opposition leaders and employees of the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi. Following the “footsteps” of these recordings, the Russian Ambassador Vyacheslav Kovalenko was invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for clarification. Georgian Ambassador to Russia Irakli Chubinishvili was recalled to Tbilisi for consultations.

The recordings were made in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Labor leader Shalva Natelashvili, head of the Freedom movement Konstantin Gamsakhurdia, Republican MP Levan Berdzenishvili and Georgy Khaindrava talk or meet with representatives of the Russian diplomatic mission. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs calls four Russian diplomats “employees of the FSB and SVR.” On the presented recordings, Georgian oppositionists and Russian diplomats discuss the situation in Georgia and exchange impressions. Georgian authorities equate such contacts with treason. They also incline public opinion to this assessment. “This is terrible: the traders of their own homeland used people, gathering them on Rustaveli Avenue, for their dirty deeds,” said Chairman of the Committee on Defense and National Security of the Georgian Parliament Giorgi Targamadze.

Georgia is going to expel three Russian diplomats. These are Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ivan Volynkin, Advisor Pavel Solomatin and Third Secretary Alexander Kurenkov. In an interview with Vremya Novostey, the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Georgian Parliament, Konstantin Gabashvili, stated that “they are involved in subversive activities against Georgia. With this step we demonstrate the level of tension between Russia and Georgia.” The parliamentarian admitted that “most likely, Russia will take a retaliatory step against our diplomats.”

The authorities call the main “seller” of national interests the oligarch Badri Patarkatsishvili, who openly supported the opposition. “The series “Dreams of Arkady” has ended (Patarkatsishvili’s name is Arkady on his passport - Ed.),” said Education Minister Alexander Lomaia. Supporters of the authorities, playing on his last name, call the businessman “patara katsi” - “little man”. On Wednesday, the mayor's office terminated the contract with an organization subordinate to the businessman, which is reconstructing a park on Mount Mtatsminda (Holy Mountain) in Tbilisi.

The oligarch, who is now outside Georgia, distributed a statement in the Georgian media in which the regime of Mikheil Saakashvili is called “fascist.”

Late in the evening the Russian Foreign Ministry also reacted. “The Georgian authorities have launched a new hostile attack against Russia. Speaking on national television, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili unleashed a whole range of accusations, mentioning both annoying claims against our peacekeepers and horror stories about Russian spies, the department said in a statement. “Something new has also appeared: it turns out that the mass protests of the population of Georgia are also the work of Moscow.” This “new”, according to the Foreign Ministry, is explained as follows: “The Georgian leadership continues to diligently shape the image of the enemy in the person of Russia. It is necessary to justify the obvious failures of the socio-economic course of the current government, the plight of the population, its reluctance to constructively solve problems with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the authoritarianism of the country’s leadership, and finally, the neglect of democratic freedoms, which has found more than clear expression in the latest events on the streets of Tbilisi.” But just as Saakashvili sees Russian spies behind the opposition, on Smolensk Square more influential forces are seen behind the figure of the Georgian president. And the Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed these forces: “We call on those who have direct influence on Tbilisi to warn the Georgian leadership against further destructive steps fraught with unpredictable consequences. Promises to do this were given to us repeatedly. We hope that they will be fulfilled."

Mikhail VIGNANSKY, Tbilisi, Ivan GORDEEV