The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland have strongly condemned “the disproportionate use of force" against peaceful protesters and the targeting of the opposition and media representatives in Georgia.
Thousands of protesters marched in the Georgian capital Tbilisi Saturday for the 10th day of rallies sparked by the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union following a disputed election.
Georgian police said they arrested 48 people during a crackdown on pro-EU protesters on Friday. Police chased demonstrators through the streets of Tbilisi until the early morning hours of Saturday and violently detained some of them.
In a joint statement on Saturday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland called on the ruling Georgian Dream party "to deescalate tensions and open an inclusive dialogue with all political forces and representatives of civil society".
“We underscore our determination to support the democratic and European aspirations of the Georgian people,” the statement said.
They also called for the immediate release of opposition members, and demanded that “fundamental rights, including freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, must be upheld and protected as per Georgia’s constitution and international commitments".
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The crackdown has also drawn strong condemnation from the United States.
Speaking at a ministerial conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday denounced what he described as a brutal “repression of those calling for their country to stay on the path to closer ties with Europe".
Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in a disputed election on 26 October – 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.
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(with newswires)
