Government critics attacked outside their homes in Georgia

At least four government critics in Georgia were attacked on the street or outside their homes by unknown assailants, as a campaign of violence and harassment against opponents of the country’s foreign agents law escalated.

On Wednesday evening, Dimitri Chikovani, a leading member of the opposition United National Movement (UNM), was attacked in the entrance to his building in Tbilisi. Video surveillance footage The account of the attack showed five attackers lying in wait before attacking and beating Chikovani.

Chikovani remained defiant after the attack.

“I want to tell my friends, the people who have been protesting on the streets for three weeks against the Russian law (the foreign agents law), that this regime is over, they can’t scare us, they can’t make us “Forcing me to kneel,” he said formula. “This is the end of her.”

Activist Lasha Ghvinianidze, who helped organize the frequent motorcycle rallies during protests against the draft foreign agents law, was also attacked on the street on Wednesday.

“First they started calling my phone yesterday, then my wife, and today they threatened my 72-year-old father on the phone,” Ghvinianidze said TV Pirveli. ‘And in the evening they made good on their threat,” he said.

That same evening, Gia Japaridze, the opposition leader’s brother Zurab JaparidzeHe was attacked at the entrance to his house.

“They started beating me; “Many of them beat me with sticks,” Japaridze said after the attack. “They asked: Why am I against Russian law?”

Japaridze is a former diplomat and professor at the University of Georgia.

All three required medical attention and Japaridze and Chikovani remained hospitalized Wednesday afternoon.

On Thursday, local media reported that another UNM opposition politician, Giorgi Mumladze, was beaten up in Marneuli, South Georgia. Mumladze said he noticed a car watching him near his home before the attack.

“I started taking a video, the car stopped and four muscular, masked guys jumped out and started fighting me, ripped my clothes, grabbed my phone and took it away from me,” he said.

The violence comes amid increasing attacks on opponents of Georgia’s foreign agents bill.

In recent days, there have been numerous reports from opponents of the foreign agents law, including activists, politicians and protesters, that they have received threatening calls from unknown people.

(Read more: Georgian Dream creates database of “undesirables”)

Several activistsJournalists and opposition Politician have also reported aggressive people knocking on their front doors and offensive graffiti and posters posted on their homes.

Levan Tsutskiridze, the executive director of the Eastern European Center for Multiparty Democracy, posted on ‘.

They put these posters on the windows of our office in Tbilisi saying that we are “traitors,” “slaves of foreign money,” and the like. We are not afraid, these posters will disappear, they will disappear and we will win. #NotoRussianLaw pic.twitter.com/QkYLq9xc6T

— Levan Tsutskiridze (@LTsutskiridze) May 9, 2024

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri claimed the agency had launched an investigation into the attacks.

However, Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze Soon opponents of the foreign agent law appeared to be blamed for the attacks on their own supporters.

“If anyone can organize this kind of unrest, it is certainly the people who are at the forefront of these rallies and want to ignite a spark of protest in the country,” he told reporters.

“If you want to fuel the protests, it’s good if there are as many injured people as possible.” “It’s definitely not in the government’s interest to harm anyone or incite protests,” he said.

Wednesday and Thursday’s attacks were not the first against opponents of the foreign agents law.

During a demonstration on May 3, around 20 men ambushed and beat an isolated group of protesters in Tbilisi’s central Heroes’ Square. Although the attackers’ faces were visible during the attacks and social media users claimed to have identified them, no arrests were made.

Wednesday’s attacks on government critics followed a series of arrests of demonstrators.

The Interior Ministry announced on Thursday calculated six people with “damaging property” and attacking police during protests against the Foreign Agents Act.

If convicted, they face up to eleven years in prison.

Dozens of people were also arrested and charged with misdemeanors.

Two protesters were prosecuted during protests against the Foreign Agents Act last year. Tornike Akopashviliwas sentenced to a fine of ₾3,000 ($1,120) and a two-year suspended sentence.

Lazare Grigoridis was sentenced to nine years in prison shortly before President Salome Zourabichvili pardoned him on April 12.

(Read more: Georgian President pardons anti-foreign agents law protester Lazare Grigoriadis)

Georgia’s Foreign Agents Law would designate any civil society or media organization that receives at least 20% of its funding from outside Georgia as an “organization that promotes the interests of a foreign power.” Such organizations would be subject to “monitoring” by the Justice Department every six months. Lawyers warned they could be forced to release internal communications and confidential sources. Organizations that do not comply face heavy fines.