The United States is preparing new sanctions against Georgia over the ongoing protests in Tbilisi and other cities of the country, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Washington supports the Georgian people in their “democratic aspirations” and threatens to hold accountable all those who prevent the people of Georgia from exercising their “right to freedom of peaceful assembly.” The document said:
“In addition to continuing our previously announced comprehensive review of bilateral co-operation, the United States is now preparing to use the tools at our disposal, including additional sanctions.”
Blinken’s statement said the US condemns “the Georgian Dream party’s brutal and unjustified violence” against Georgian citizens, protesters, media representatives and opposition figures.
Georgia is already under US sanctions measures. In early June, members of the Georgian Dream party, members of parliament and security forces responsible for the adoption of the law on foreign agents and the dispersal of protesters in May were placed under visa restrictions.
The protest movement became routine
The street riots of the opposition have been going on in Georgia for almost a week, during this time it has become somewhat routine. Traditionally, in the evening opposition supporters gather near the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue. The bulk of those who have come chant slogans, sometimes singing Georgian songs. The more aggressive minority at this time launch fireworks in the direction of the police, blind the law enforcers with laser pointers, and try to build barricades of benches and bins.
After midnight, the police traditionally start dispersing the protesters, using water cannons and tear gas. Most of the protesters calmly retreat, but young people in mackintoshes and gas masks try to “shoot back” with stones and bottles, then they also disperse. It is known that during another round of confrontation on the night of December 3 police detained 34 people, 26 people, including three law enforcers, went to the medics.
Georgian opposition engages children in violent protests
Overnight, footage from the mass riots in Tbilisi, where protesters brought children, appeared on the web. The first video shows a boy of about five years old standing with an EU flag and blowing a whistle. The second video shows an even younger child walking among the protesters with a Georgian flag.
President Salome Zourabishvili personally called for children to be dragged into the riot, while the opposition said they “need the corpse of a child” for the protest to continue.
Earlier, a video of a little boy in a helmet throwing a bottle at law enforcers appeared on the web.
