Police in Georgia break up protesters' camp in Tbilisi but they quickly return

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Police and demonstrators scuffled again Tuesday in Georgia's capital as officers moved before dawn to break up a camp protesting the results of last month's parliamentary election and demanding a new vote. Thousands of people later returned and set up camp again.

The round-the-clock protest in Tbilisi follows the Oct. 26 election that kept the governing Georgian Dream party in power. Opponents say the vote was rigged and suspect neighboring Russia's influence. Many Georgians viewed the election as a referendum on the country's effort to join the European Union.

As police moved to disperse the camp on a central street early Tuesday, there were scuffles and several protesters were detained, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. Some demonstrators displayed EU flags.

“We have the right to freedom of assembly, the right to gather and the right to protest the terrible processes that took place on Oct. 26 and beyond," Gigi Chikhladze told the AP after the camp was dispersed. “The legal ways to challenge the election results have been almost entirely exhausted, without an outcome.”

Up to 1,000 protesters remained at the site, and the crowd swelled to several thousand in the evening. Demonstrators again set up camp in the area.

“We will fight for our country’s future because Georgia will never surrender,” Unity National Movement Coalition leader Giorgi Vashadze said, urging the West to support the protest. “Georgian people will never surrender, and no Russian operation will have any kind of success in this country.”

Elene Khoshtaria, leader of Coalition for Change, which unites several opposition parties, also vowed to continue the protests: “There was absolutely no reason for dispersal, but it will not stop our resistance. It’s their mistake, their weakness, and they will pay the price for it. We will continue to resist as long as it takes.”

President Salome Zourabichvili, who has rejected the official results, on Tuesday filed a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court, arguing that two fundamental principles guaranteed by the Constitution — the secrecy of the vote and its universality — were violated.

Zourabichvili, who holds a mostly ceremonial position, has said Georgia has fallen victim to pressure from Moscow against joining the EU.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely in June after the country’s parliament passed a law requiring 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.

The Central Election Commission said Georgian Dream won about 54% of the vote in October. Its leaders have rejected opposition claims of vote fraud. European election observers said the election took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.