Georgia cracks down on pro-EU protests with crippling fines

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Tablisi: Nadeem Khalidza has been joining thousands of companions every evening since November, when Tablisi’s rapidly oppressive government talks about EU membership.

The 60 -year -old rights activist said that when he first joined the anti -government rallies in Tablisi, he was “ready to face violence against the police”, but he never thought that he would cost more than 22 months due to standing on the road for a few hours.

Three months after the protest, he received a summons: Tablisi’s Central Avenue with a total of 45,000 lorry (about $ 16,000)) fined. “The government is using Russian -style methods to end the independence of the Assembly in Georgia,” he told AFP.

Khuladiz is one of the thousands of Georgian protesters who face a disabled penalty to take to the streets. Renowned author Mikhail Tasselshvili, who returned from Portugal to Georgia last year to Georgia, returned to Georgia to fight against the “pro -Russian policies” of the Georgian Dream Party.

He says he and his girlfriend were fined equal to 8,850, in which they “the purpose of financial terrorism is to eliminate the popular anger.” “I took the case to court,” he said, adding that he “has little hope in the Georgia justice system, which is under the control of the ruling party.”

Bravely the bitter cold, protesters have continued daily rally in the Tablisi and cities of the Black Sea, which has become an unprecedented protest against Democratic baking and growing fellowship with Moscow democratically against Georgian dreams.

After the controversial parliamentary elections in October, the mass protests first spread, which the opposition rejected as a rigging in favor of Georgian dreams. After Prime Minister Arakali’s announcement of November 28, the movement intensified that his cabinet would not try to discuss the EU membership with Brussels by 2028.

According to the vote, Georgia is a government candidate for membership in the block of 27 countries, which supports more than 80 % of the population, and is included in the country’s constitution.

During the initial phase of the protest, security forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters and made hundreds of arrests. Georgia’s senior human rights official, Ombudsman Leon Isuliani, and Amnesty International have accused the police of “harassing” police – the government has denied the allegations.

Authorities have since resorted to severe financial penalties and increased surveillance, and issuing facial identification technology and heavy fines to identify the protesters. “After the bare violence proved ineffective, the government turned to threats – police raids on workers’ homes and anonymous threats on the phone,” Salom Khadgani told AFP, “the Liberty Institute of Liberty Institute, AFP, told AFP.

He added, “When it failed to suppress the protest, the government succeeded in gradually embracing them financially.” In December, the penalty for blocking roads increased tenfold, up to 5000 laers (8,850), thousands of people suffered “absolutely inappropriate financial restrictions” or alternatively 15 days imprisonment.

According to the Georgia Opposition Party, in January alone, the total fines exceeded $ 6.5 million in the country of four million people, where an average monthly salary is $ 740.

The Interior Ministry said it only releases fines “when the number of protesters does not justify blocking the road” and a rally can be held without interruption of traffic. To implement these measures, authorities have increased monitoring capabilities, including the deployment of facial identification technology.

Rights groups said the government has increased the number of high resolution surveillance cameras on Tablisi’s roads. “The widespread use of facial recognition and remote biometrics technologies facilitates distinction targeted monitoring,” said wet Rights Watchdog. “In these ways, basic rights harm.”