Fourth night of protests in Georgia ends with crackdown on protesters and new detentions

Georgian law enforcement began dispersing anti-government protesters outside the Georgian Parliament near midnight on 3 December.

Georgian police on Tuesday evening used water cannon and tear gas on the sixth night of pro-EU protests in Tbilisi after the prime minister threatened demonstrators with reprisals amid a deepening crisis in the Black Sea nation.

In practice, a party founded by the billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili – whose wealth was accumulated in Russia – has been pulling Georgia ever further into the authoritarian orbit of Vladimir Putin.

Defying club-wielding riot police, protesters have gathered each evening since November 28th to demand that their government resumes its frozen bid to join the European Union and holds fresh, unrigged elections.