Still nothing on Georgian mass protests?

[K. A. Pital]

That's interesting.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071107/87038980.html

TBILISI, November 7 (RIA Novosti) - Georgian riot police used water cannons and tear gas on Wednesday to disperse rallies of thousands of protesters demanding President Mikheil Saakashvili's resignation and early elections.

After hundreds of riot police with shields and batons broke up a rally outside parliament, opposition supporters staged a new protest on the city's Rike Square. Harsh methods were again used to dispel the crowd, including rubber bullets and tear gas.

Opposition arrests and police beatings have angered the crowds, now gathering for a sixth day in central Tbilisi.

The Georgian Health Ministry said that around 360 people have so far been injured in the clashes, and 109 remain in hospital. Health Minister David Tkeshelashvili said the state would pay for the medical treatment of those injured.

The Imedi TV said later that Koba Davitashvili, the opposition People's Party leader, was hospitalized in a serious condition.

Georgian Interior Ministry troops and army units have been deployed on the streets to prevent the protesters from breaking through to the parliament's building. All 23 metro stations in the capital have been closed.

Aside from President Saakashvili's resignation, the Georgian opposition is demanding early elections in April 2008, electoral reform, and the freeing of "political prisoners". Saakashvili has so far refused to negotiate with the protesters.

At the peak of the protests, between 50,000 and 100,000 people, according to different estimates, rallied on Friday, the first day of Georgia's worst unrest since the 2003 "rose revolution" that brought Saakashvili to power.

Imedi TV said protests have now spilled over into other Georgian cities. The largest provincial rally is taking place in Batumi on the Black Sea coast.

Protesters accuse the president of corruption, authoritarianism, and failed economic reforms. Many continue to support former defense minister Irakly Okruashvili, previously a key ally of the president, who in late September publicly accused Saakashvili of ordering the murders of political opponents and of plotting the forceful seizure of breakaway South Ossetia. Days after the comments he was arrested and charged with blackmail, money laundering, and abuse of office, but was later released.

Imedi TV channel reported that a Georgian opposition leader detained earlier today had launched a hunger strike. Giorgy Khaindrava announced the measure after being taken to a Tbilisi court to face charges of inciting public disorder and resisting police. He was later released by the court after paying a fine of around $250.

National media also reported that authorities are searching the office of businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, who earlier pledged to finance political opposition in the country.

Later in the day, the Imedi TV company, which has been covering opposition protests and makes part of Patarkatsishvili's holding, said special task force of the Georgian Interior Ministry took over the offices of the Imedi television channel, cutting broadcasts and online programs.

Georgian lawmaker Levan Gachechiladze, who had been taking part in a hunger strike outside parliament, said he had been attacked by police, but warned that "the people will soon beat Saakashvili in the same manner".

The head of Georgia's Orthodox Church voiced his concern over the unrest, and pledged the church's support in resolving the standoff.

"The situation in Georgia is slipping out of control," Patriarch Ilia II said. "I think there is only one route - and that is dialogue between the leadership and the opposition. If there is willingness from both sides, we are ready to take part in this dialogue."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the ongoing unrest is an internal affair for Georgia but stressed that Russia is concerned by the events. "What is happening in Georgia is its internal affair, and I would not like to comment in detail on the situation. But it is of concern to us," he said.

The minister said that in addition to the crisis in Tbilisi, Georgia's leadership is attempting to scupper talks on regulating the country's conflicts with its breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The European and NATO said they were closely watching the situation in Georgia and urged the country's authorities and opposition to refrain from confrontation.

Not long ago they thought of introducing monarchy. Yeah.

[Mange]

It was mentioned in the late news, but I haven't heard about the details.

[K. A. Pital]

Well, it's kind of developing - lots of people are arrested, Georgian special forces have stormed two TV studios ("Imedi" and "Caucasia"), arrested Gamsakhurdia's son among others and totally cut off the phone communications, including mobile phones, for any opposition parties.

[Lord Poe]

Pro-Western Georgia Declares State of Emergency

Pro-Western Georgia Declares State of Emergency
Police Suppress Demonstrations, Private Media
By Tara BahrampourWashington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 8, 2007; Page A14

TBILISI, Georgia, Nov. 7 -- The pro-Western government of Georgia, a former Soviet republic, declared a state of emergency Wednesday night after police violently dispersed throngs of protesters and shut down private TV stations. The president accused opposition leaders of acting in concert with Russian intelligence agents.

The crackdown began Wednesday morning when police in black masks and riot gear used tear gas, batons, rubber bullets and water cannons against demonstrators who had occupied the street in front of the Parliament building. It was the first real violence since large anti-government demonstrations began six days ago.

Opposition figures denied President Mikheil Saakashvili's claims that they were acting for Russia, which has been trying to re-exert influence in countries that were part of the Soviet Union. The opposition has accused the president of using Soviet-style techniques to crush legitimate dissent.
The events mark the most serious challenge to Saakashvili since he swept to power in the 2003 street uprising known as the Rose Revolution. He was later elected to office with overwhelming voter support.

On a platform of reform, his government forged close ties with the United States and Europe, contributed troops to the coalition in Iraq and lobbied for membership in the NATO alliance and the European Union. President Bush has called Georgia a "beacon of democracy" in the region.

Addressing the country on television Wednesday, the American-educated Saakashvili said: "We cannot let our country become the stage for dirty geopolitical escapades by other countries," an allusion to Russia. "Our democracy needs the firm hand of the authorities."

Georgia's relations with Russia have sunk to all-time lows in the past year. Russia has cut transportation links, deported Georgians and banned certain imports; Georgia has deported Russian officials and accused Russian warplanes of flying over its territory and dropping a missile on its soil. Relations are tense in part because Georgia has two zones that have effectively seceded from central government authority and enjoy Russian support. Saakashvili has been campaigning to bring them back under government control.

The Georgian government announced Wednesday that it would expel three more Russians. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement called the president's remarks "a politically irresponsible provocation" and said "an adequate response" would come from Russia.

Opponents say Saakashvili's government has become increasingly authoritarian in ways that echo Soviet days, allowing judicial abuse and political intimidation. They note that former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili, after accusing the president of corruption and a murder conspiracy, then went on television to recant his claims. Now abroad, he has reiterated his accusations.

On Wednesday, police and protesters engaged in extended battles in the streets; officers attacked some passersby who appeared to have no connection to the protest. The government later announced that 508 people had been hospitalized, of whom 412 were released. The injured include 24 policemen.

Tina Khidasheli, an opposition leader, said in an interview that she had been beaten and hit with a tear gas canister when police moved in. She blamed the violence in part on the United States' "unconditional support" for Georgia's ruling party, adding that she thought her country's leadership would have respected the rule of law more if U.S. officials had insisted it be upheld.

"For four years they did not question anything Saakashvili was doing," she said. "Beacon of democracy? The shining of democracy was in the streets today."

Georgian political scientist Giorgi Margvelashvili said that while Georgia has been a democracy up until now, he worries it will become "a police state where people will be put into prison as a matter of policy."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called on the two sides to settle their differences peacefully. He declined to comment on claims of Russian interference. U.S. officials in the past have praised reform efforts but said that Georgia has a long way to go to achieve true democracy and tolerance of dissent.

Giga Bokeria, a spokesman for the ruling party, said police were sent in Wednesday after demonstrators began building a tent, which he said was illegal. By his account, the crowd, which had closed off traffic on the main avenue since Friday, had dwindled to 100 people, at which point it was no longer large enough to justify being in the street.

"They were allowed to stay on the sidewalk, but unfortunately the radical leaders of the opposition called for a mass movement to mobilize," Bokeria said. According to him, police first peacefully dispersed the protesters, who then hit and pushed back at police, provoking the violence.

In his television address, Saakashvili said Georgian police had done what police would do in any democratic country, including Switzerland and the United States, but conceded that the events of the day would not help Georgia's image abroad.

The government released video and audio recordings Wednesday showing opposition figures meeting with Russians. Khidasheli said in the interview that this is normal activity, that she regularly confers with Russian diplomats as well as envoys from the United States and other countries.

About 9 p.m., Imedi, a television station known for its opposition to the government, went off the air in the middle of a live broadcast. Before the screen went black, the anchor said police had entered the premises and had told employees to lie on the floor. He called on foreign governments to respond.

Imedi has been owned jointly by billionaire opposition supporter Badri Patarkatsishvili and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Last week, the station announced that News Corp. was increasing its shares to a majority stake.
Bokeria said he had not heard that Imedi had been shut down, but he accused the station of calling for the government's overthrow and said that "it wouldn't surprise me if there would be a legal action" against it.
Kakha Vardidze, 32, took cover in a food market a few blocks from Parliament after the street violence began. Pressing an ice pack to his head, he said he was walking home when one policeman directed him into a side street and another one hit him on the head.

A 58-year-old woman who said she was afraid to give her name pressed a scarf over her nose and mouth, and her eyes filled with tears. "Our president's dogs," she said as she watched riot police run by.