TBILISI (Reuters) – 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. 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 on Monday, 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 U.S. embassy was encouraging the protesters.
“If anyone believes that what is happening on the streets is happening independently of the U.S. Embassy, they know nothing about what is happening on the streets,” Mdinaradze was cited as saying by the Interpress news agency.
The U.S. 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.
Demonstrations had waned in recent weeks but resumed with force on Sunday when thousands of people briefly blocked a major motorway leading out of the capital.
Eight protesters, including former Tbilisi Mayor Giorgi Ugulava, face up to four years in prison for attempting to block the motorway, according to charges filed by Georgian authorities on Tuesday and cited by local media.
Georgians have been demanding new elections following a vote in October which opposition parties say was rigged in favour of Georgian Dream. The party has said the vote was free and fair.
(Reporting by Felix Light in Tbilisi and Lucy Papachristou in London; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Gareth Jones)
