Georgia Plans Tougher Penalties For Protesters

The Georgian government is pushing forward with a legislative package that would increase penalties for protest-related offences in some cases to many years in prison as the South Caucasus country grapples with a protracted political crisis.

Georgians have been rallying nightly since November, when the ruling Georgian Dream party, now in its fourth term in power, said it was suspending European Union accession talks until 2028, abruptly halting a long-standing national goal.

The demonstrations have drawn a swift crackdown by police, resulting in hundreds of arrests and beatings, rights groups say.

However, the government has defended the police actions, suggesting shadowy forces have been trying to orchestrate unrest and overthrow the authorities.

The proposed amendments will increase the length of jail sentences for minor administrative offences from 15 to 60 days, and boost fines and detention periods for petty hooliganism, insulting the police and other infractions.

Resisting, threatening and using violence against police officers would incur a prison sentence of five to 10 years.

Announcing the plans, Mamuka Mdinaradze, a senior Georgian Dream lawmaker, said the government was responding to attempts by “external forces to destroy and weaken the state and its institutions”.

He did not explicitly identify the “external forces” but suggested the US embassy was encouraging the protesters.

“If anyone believes that what is happening on the streets is happening independently of the US Embassy, ​​they know nothing about what is happening on the streets,” Mdinaradze was cited as saying by the Interpress news agency.

The US embassy in Tbilisi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Georgia was traditionally one of Washington’s strongest allies in the former Soviet Union, but critics say Georgian Dream is now taking the country in a more authoritarian and pro-Russian direction.

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere