Tbilisi Protesters Vow To Return After Overnight Clashes

As dawn broke in the Georgian capital, riot police appeared to be in full control of the city following a night of protests by people angered after a Russian lawmaker sat at the speaker's seat inside the country's parliament.

But opposition leaders early on June 21 vowed to return to the streets of Tbilisi for a second night of protests.

"We will meet again on Rustaveli Avenue at [7 p.m.]. We will need to agree on an action plan with people," said George Vashadze, the leader of the New Georgia party.

The authorities in Tbilisi said early on June 21 that about 70 people, including 39 police officers, had been injured overnight as pitched battles between security personnel and protesters continued outside the parliament building into the early morning hours.

Local media reported that several people had been detained but details were not available.

Police used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, and by 5 a.m., nearly all the protesters appeared to have left the area.

"What the government has done today is an absolutely illegal act against the people," Vashadze said.

"Now it is important to find out who was detained, who is in the hospital, and in what condition," he added.

The public outrage erupted on June 20 after Russian lawmaker Sergei Gavrilov occupied the Georgian speaker's seat in parliament, a symbolic reminder of Russia's unwanted influence over its smaller southern neighbor.

Gavrilov, a Communist Party member of the Russian Duma lower chamber of parliament, was visiting Tbilisi to chair the general assembly of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), which attracts lawmakers from around Europe.

Georgians view Gavrilov as an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and say he backs Russian support for the Georgian separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, perhaps the most pressing issue for the nation.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili called Gavrilov's actions a "major crime," but said it did not justify the public unrest and hinted someone was behind the protest.

​A Russian sitting in the speaker's seat "was an insult to the country and its honor. However, this cannot excuse the artificially instigated wave [of protests] aimed at storming the parliament and causing a coup," she said.
Tbilisi's quest to regain full control over the two breakaway regions and join Western institutions, including NATO, sparked a five-day war with Russia in 2008.

Georgia claims Putin is trying to keep their country within Russia's sphere of influence.

When Gavrilov sought to return to the speaker's seat after a break, Georgian parliament members blocked his access, saying they would not let the Russian "desecrate state institutions," local media reported.

Following the confrontation inside parliament, the Orthodox assembly was suspended and security escorted Gavrilov and his delegation out of the building.

Protesters then began to gather in front of the legislature to demand parliament speaker Irakli Kobakhidze step down. Some of them waved Georgian, EU, and U.S. flags while others held placards that read "Russia is an occupier."

Kobakhidze, who was on a working visit to Baku, claims he requested the assembly of Orthodox representatives be immediately terminated when he heard the news.

"It was very hard for everyone to see what we saw in the parliament today. Russia is a country that has occupied 20 percent of our territory, and a deputy of this country was sitting in the chair of the parliament speaker," he said.

Toward midnight, as thousands of people assembled in front of the parliament, some protesters tried to storm the building.

Protesters tossed objects at the long line of police dressed in full riot gear as they struggled to break through. Others yanked helmets and shields from the officers.

Then the police began to battle back, first firing tear gas into the crowd. As they fled, protesters covered their faces with their shirts and hands to avoid the sting of the gas.

"Tear gas in my eyes. Tear gas in my throat, too. Multiple canisters shot," tweeted Onnik Krikorian, a Georgia-based photographer and contributor to intelligence firm Stratfor, shortly before midnight.

The police went "crazy" with a "constant barrage" of tear gas, he said.

Police then began firing rubber bullets at the remaining protesters, leaving many bleeding from the face and body. Ambulances arrived at the scene to care for the injured.

The U.S. Embassy in Georgia said it understood many people felt "hurt" by Gavrilov's action, but called on all sides "to remain calm, show restraint, and act within the framework of the constitution."

Gavrilov said in a statement on the Duma website that the Georgian parliament was occupied by radicals, adding that Russia and Georgia were "united by fraternal Orthodox ties."

The IAO was founded in 1994 and is based in Greece. Its purpose is to foster unity among Orthodox Christians based on Christian and democratic values and principles, according to the general assembly's 2013 declaration.