A mob attacked the headquarters of Georgia’s largest opposition party last night amid what critics describe as a mounting Belarusian-style crackdown on dissent.
Video and photos shared with Metro show a gang of around 60 masked men using wooden batons and bricks to vandalise the offices of United National Movement (UNM), whose former government led Georgia in the aftermath of the country’s 2003 Rose Revolution.
A spokesperson for the party said: ‘[They caused] significant damage to the property and threatened the safety of staff inside.
‘This incident is just one of many similar instances of escalating state-sponsored violence and repression under the Georgian Dream government.’
It follows after the ruling party voted on Tuesday to approve a controversial set of measures targeting independent press and NGOs as ‘agents of foreign influence’.
The bill, which has been condemned by the South Caucasian country’s historic partners in the West, is almost a carbon copy of the one used by the Putin regime to crush opposition to the war in Ukraine.
Its passing comes despite warnings that the law will spell an end to the immediate hopes of more than 80% of the Georgian population for one day joining the European Union.
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Georgia’s political elite, and in particular the ruling party’s oligarch founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, are expected to face US and EU sanctions in the coming weeks.
Dozens of state critics, including opposition politicians, journalists, activists and civil society representatives, have been hospitalised in attacks by security forces in recent weeks.
Hundreds of others have received menacing anonymous phone calls and death threats, while some people have even been forced to flee the country ahead of what their supporters describe as politically-motivated prosecution for involvement in the ongoing protests and unrest.
UNM Secretary General Petre Tsiskarishvili said: ‘This is the latest incident in a catalogue of violent crackdowns against opposition voices in Georgia.
‘Protesters have been beaten and opposition leaders terrorised as Ivanishvili’s supporters wage an increasingly dirty war designed to help them hold onto power.
‘These attacks only serve to underline the importance of independent monitoring of October’s elections. Without the proper checks and balances in place, the threat of a stolen election only becomes more likely.’
Metro has contacted the ruling Georgian Dream party for comment over the incident.
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