Overnight on Oct. 4-5, thousands of violent demonstrators gathered outside Georgia’s presidential palace in Tbilisi and attempted to break in. Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said on Oct. 5 that the demonstrators aimed to “overthrow the constitutional order” and he claimed that more than 7,000 people participated. Riot police were deployed, using tear gas and water cannons. The Georgian health minister said that 21 security personnel and 6 demonstrators were injured in the confrontation.
Georgia’s State Security Service claimed that a weapons cache, along with explosives, were found hidden in a forest near the capital, which they alleged had been intended for use in the attack. They had reportedly been purchased by a Georgian worker with a member of an armed group operating in Ukraine.
The protests erupted after local Georgian elections on Saturday, Oct. 4, saw Kobakhidze’s Georgia Dream party secure large gains, winning majorities in all municipalities and 80% of the total vote, according to Al Jazeera. At least some of the opposition parties boycotted the election.
