Pro-EU protests in Georgia continued on Tuesday, reports AFP. Waving the flags of the European Union (EU) and Georgia, demonstrators gathered outside the parliament in the capital Tbilisi for the 13th day in a row against the government's decision to delay EU accession after disputed elections.
On Tuesday, the EU said the bloc's foreign ministers would discuss "additional measures" against Georgian authorities next week after what Brussels called "credible concerns" for torture against demonstrators.
"The continued backsliding of democracy and the recent repressive measures used by the Georgian authorities have consequences for our bilateral relations," it said in a statement.
The United States, Britain, France and Germany have also expressed outrage at the way the protests have been handled.
Critics accuse the rulers of authoritarianism.
We remind you that the country has been in a political crisis since the parliamentary elections on October 26, won by the ruling party "Georgian Dream" but condemned as falsified by the pro-Western opposition. The government's decision of November 28 to postpone until 2028 "the issue of accession to the European Union" caused a wave of demonstrations in Tbilisi and other cities.
In power since 2012, in recent months the government of the ruling party "Georgian Dream" passed laws targeting NGOs and LGBT people. The opposition claims that these laws are a copy of legislation used in Russia to crush civil society and dissident voices.
Security forces have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse previous demonstrations and have arrested more than 400 people since the second wave of unrest began.
Police raided offices of opposition parties, and on Saturday dozens of unidentified masked men brutally attacked opposition figures and journalists near the site of the protest.
The State Security Service said on Tuesday it expects more trouble ahead of December 14, when lawmakers from the "Georgian Dream" they must choose a loyal supporter to succeed pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili.