Georgian reporters claim they were violently attacked amid protests over halting EU negotiations

TBILISI – Thousands of people gathered for the 11th consecutive day of protests in Georgia on Sunday. The protests came after the ruling party decided to halt talks about joining the European Union. Another protest highlighted the violence against journalists covering the demonstrations in Georgia.

Police have been using more force to control the protests near the parliament building in Tbilisi. Riot police have employed water cannons and tear gas regularly to break up the protests. Demonstrators have clashed with police, throwing fireworks and setting up barricades on the main street in the Georgian capital.

During a protest on Saturday night, Maka Chikhladze, a journalist from the independent Pirveli TV channel, and her colleague were attacked by a violent group, Chikhladze recounted to The Associated Press.

Chikladze said her colleague managed to capture footage of men dressed in black who were beating demonstrators before they turned on the pair, violently pushing Chikhladze to the ground. She later told AP that her colleague sustained a head injury and had his camera stolen.

Chikhladze charged that Georgia’s government was using bands of thugs to deter people from attending anti-government rallies, an allegation denied by representatives of the Georgian Dream party.

On Sunday, several hundred media workers marched down Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue before putting up posters of colleagues they say had been assaulted while doing their jobs.

“Our colleagues are beaten, injured, some remain in hospital in serious condition,” TV Pirveli anchor Ekaterine Mishveladze told AP.

In a separate incident Saturday, AP journalists saw several masked men violently tackle a protester attempting to enter the offices of an opposition party, Ahali. The man, Koba Khabazi, lay slumped on the ground while his attackers repeatedly kicked him. He later showed AP his head injuries.

Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in the disputed Oct. 26 election, a vote widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s EU aspirations. The opposition and the pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, have accused the governing party of rigging the vote with neighboring Russia’s help and have boycotted parliament sessions.

Opposition protests gained new momentum after the Georgian Dream’s decision last Thursday to put the EU accession talks on hold.

Riot police have used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the rallies and beat scores of protesters, who threw fireworks at police officers and built barricades on Rustaveli Avenue.

The crackdown has drawn strong condemnation from the United States and EU officials. Speaking Thursday at a ministerial conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced what he described as the brutal “repression of those calling for their country to stay on the path to closer ties with Europe.”

Mamuka Mdinanradze, leader of the Georgian Dream party, condemned mob violence against protesters during a news briefing Sunday, and denied any connection with the government.

The office of Georgia’s rights ombudsman on Sunday issued a statement criticizing Georgian police for “failing to take adequate measures” to ensure safety during the demonstrations.

President Zourabichvili, who plays a largely ceremonial role, refused to recognize the official election results and contested them before the Constitutional Court, which rejected her appeal earlier this week.

The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that the country meets the bloc’s recommendations, but put its accession on hold and cut financial support in June after the passage of a “foreign influence” law that was widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.

The law requires organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government.