Star Metro - Thousands gather in Georgia for fresh pro-EU protests

The Black Sea nation has been rocked by turmoil since the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in an October 26 parliamentary election that the pro-European opposition said was fraudulent.

Outside the parliament building in central Tbilisi, crowds of protesters chanted and waved EU and Georgian flags.

"My future depends on what Georgia will do right now," 22-year-old protester Anna Kaulachvili told AFP.

More than 100 people were arrested during violent clashes between law enforcement and protesters the night before, with police firing a water cannon and tear gas at demonstrators.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement on Thursday that Georgia would not seek accession talks with the EU until 2028 ignited a furious reaction from the opposition.

Critics accuse Georgian Dream -- in power for more than a decade -- of having steered the country away from the bloc in recent years and of moving closer to Russia, an accusation it denies.

Hundreds of public servants, including from the ministries of foreign affairs, defence and education, as well as a number of judges, issued joint statements protesting Kobakhidze's decision.

Some 160 Georgian diplomats criticised the move as contradicting the constitution and leading the country "into international isolation".

- 'Resistance movement' -

On Friday, AFP reporters saw riot police fire water cannon and tear gas at pro-EU protesters gathered outside parliament, who tossed eggs and fireworks.

Clashes broke out later between protesters and police, who moved in to clear the area, beating demonstrators, some of whom threw objects.

"I extend my gratitude to the minister of internal affairs and every police officer who yesterday defended Georgia's constitutional order and safeguarded the nation's sovereignty and independence," Kobakhidze told a news conference on Saturday.

Georgia's special investigation service said it had opened a probe into "allegations of abuse of official authority through violence by law enforcement officers against protesters and media representatives".

Independent TV station Pirveli said one of its journalists was hospitalised with serious injuries.

Protests were also held in other cities across Georgia on Friday, independent TV station Mtavari reported.

"I am afraid -- I won't hide it -- that many people will get injured, but I am not afraid to stand here," 39-year-old Tamar Gelashvili told AFP near the parliament building earlier.

More than a hundred schools and universities suspended academic activities in protest.

Pro-Western opposition parties are boycotting the new parliament, while President Salome Zurabishvili -- who is at loggerheads with Georgian Dream -- has sought to annul the election results through the country's constitutional court.

"The resistance movement has begun... I stand in solidarity with it," she said in a televised address on Friday evening.

- 'Deep concern' -

After the October vote, a group of Georgia's leading election monitors said they had evidence of a complex scheme of large-scale electoral fraud.

Brussels has demanded an investigation into what it said were "serious" irregularities reported by election monitors.

Georgian Dream MPs voted unanimously Thursday for Kobakhidze to continue as prime minister, even as the opposition boycotted parliament, deepening a serious legitimacy crisis at the legislature.

"Police actions in Tbilisi mark another punitive attack on the right to peaceful assembly," said Amnesty International.

France, Britain, Ukraine, Poland, Sweden and Lithuania were among the countries to voice concern.

The human rights office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said: "The action of law enforcement officials while policing peaceful protests in Georgia is of deep concern and a serious breach of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly."

"The disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force impacted a large number of protestors and journalists during protests in which the overwhelming majority of demonstrators were peaceful."

V.Watson--SMC