Georgia’s opposition leader was beaten and blamed on members of the ruling party

Great Britain’s ambassador to Georgia, Gareth Ward, said that what has happened in the political crisis in recent days is “extremely disturbing”. “Resurgence of violence against opposition politicians, arbitrary detention of journalists and protesters is unacceptable.

Gakharia is not the first opposition leader to face violence in recent weeks. Nika Gvaramiya, who heads the Coalition for Change, fell unconscious while being detained in the capital Tbilisi last month.

Dozens of Georgian journalists and protesters were also attacked and injured by pro-government thugs during the nightly protests.

Georgian Dream has been accused by the EU and the US of democratic backsliding, while opposition groups accuse the party and its billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili of serving Russian interests, while the vast majority of Georgians want EU membership.

Giorgi Gakharia was previously a leading member of Georgian Dream, serving as interior minister until 2021 and then as prime minister, before forming his own opposition party For Georgia.

In his statement, the Ombudsman of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, condemned the attacks on both Gakharia and Zviad Koridze. He called for an immediate reaction “so as not to incite attacks against politicians and journalists”.

Gakharia’s party was one of four opposition groups that won seats in October’s elections, but all refused to take their seats, accusing the ruling party of vote-rigging.

The European Parliament stated that the elections were neither free nor fair and called for a re-voting, and EU foreign policy commissioner Kaja Kallas accused the government of using repression against the opposition.