The leader of the opposition party in Georgia was dragged by the police from the party’s offices

One of the leaders of the opposition parties in Georgia was dragged by the police to his party’s offices, after the prime minister vowed that the organizers of the week-long anti-EU protests, which he called acts of violence, would face justice.

Nika Gvaramia, 48, who is the leader of one of the four opposition groups, was taken by the arms and legs by the police of his party HQ on the road next to the parliament in the capital Tbilisi.

Protests have been held every night since last Thursday, after the ruling Georgian Dream party said it was suspending the country’s bid to start EU accession talks.

More than 330 protesters have been arrested and human rights organizations say many have been beaten and detained.

However, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has been more focused in his criticism of the protesters, accusing them of spreading “liberal fascism”.

The protests first erupted after the election which was contested by the monitoring organizations which they say is accompanied by many violations of the laws.

But they came to life last Thursday when Kobakhidze’s party approved the Georgian Dream saying it is stopping the country’s campaign to start negotiations to join the EU. Two days later, the US suspended Georgia’s long-sought cooperation.

Georgian Dream has set up increasingly restrictive laws targeting civil society and LGBT groups and freedom of expression, and opposition groups accuse the party of returning Georgia to the sphere of influence of its Russian neighbor.

“Politicians who planned violence but are hiding in offices will not be able to escape the incidents that happened in the past days,” said Kobakhidze in a press conference on Wednesday.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry says more than 100 police officers have been injured by explosives, stones and other explosives, but the country’s human rights ombudsman has accused police of brutality and harassment of protesters.

On Monday, Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, told the BBC that the protesters had no choice but to take to the streets, because the alternative was the elimination of their country, “not only. in Russia’s sphere of influence but some kind of puppet state”.

He also predicted, accurately, that his party’s HQ would soon be attacked by the Georgian authorities.

Gvaramia’s group was not the only group targeted by the authorities. The offices of other groups in the Coalition for Change were raided and a member was arrested. The coalition came second in the disputed October 26 election.

Meanwhile, members of other opposition groups, Strong Georgia and the United National Movement, said that many of their members were taken.

Authorities raided the home of an activist from Daitove, a large anti-government Facebook group that helps jailed protesters, and moved into the home of its founder, Nancy Woland. They also direct the activists of other organizations.

Gvaramia, 46, was first taken to a center on the outskirts of Tbilisi where most of the 300 protesters are being held, then to another center in Marneuli, south of the capital, reports said.

A former head of an opposition channel, Gvaramia spent 13 months in prison for abusing his authority, but was pardoned in June 2023 by pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili.

Amnesty International said at the time that the charges against them were baseless and politically motivated.