The executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Mamuka Mdinaradze, stated on Dec. 3 that “30% of the people who were identified at the protests in Tbilisi are citizens of other countries.” His figure was based upon those protesters who were detained, so, assumedly, they were amongst the most aggressive of the demonstrators. He identified the primary countries as the U.S., the U.K. and the Netherlands, along with anti-Putin Russian émigrés, who had left Russia in 2022.
The protesters, according to RT, have repeatedly clashed with law enforcement, setting off fireworks and throwing Molotov cocktails at riot police, as well as setting fire to the parliament building. Over 140 police officers have been injured as of Tuesday night, Dec. 3. Law enforcement officials have deployed tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters, over 200 of whom have reportedly been arrested. Mdinaradze posed: “What’s going on? Someone has to explain this strangeness. Why are these foreign citizens so upset after our decision?”
