Le Pays De France - Georgia uses water cannon, tear gas at pro-EU rally after government threats

The country of some 3.7 million has been rocked by demonstrations since the ruling Georgian Dream party announced last week it would halt EU accession talks.

Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has refused to back down and threatened Tuesday to punish political opponents, accusing them of being behind violence at mass protests.

Protesters gathered outside parliament for a sixth straight night but the crowd appeared a little smaller than on recent nights, an AFP journalist saw.

Draped in EU and Georgian flags, protesters booed riot police officers and threw fireworks. Police responded by directing hoses at the protesters, with some dancing in the jets and others sheltering under umbrellas.

The police ordered demonstrators to leave through loud hailers and used water cannon to push the crowd away from the parliament.

Then they deployed tear gas against the crowd in a nearby street, causing protesters to cough, with some using saline solution to wash out their eyes.

Police roughly detained some demonstrators, Georgian independent television showed.

Tensions were already high after October parliamentary elections that saw Georgian Dream return to power amid accusations that it rigged the vote.

But Kobakhidze's decision that Georgia would not hold EU membership talks until 2028 triggered uproar, although he insisted the country is still heading towards membership.

The mostly young protesters accuse Georgian Dream of acting on Russian orders and fear the ex-Soviet country will end up back under Russian influence.

Demonstrators projected a message Tuesday that read "thank you for not being tired," onto the parliament building, an AFP reporter saw.

During the latest wave of protests, 293 people have been detained, the interior ministry said Tuesday evening, while 143 police have been injured.

The health ministry said that on Monday evening 23 protesters were injured.

"We want freedom and we do not want to find ourselves in Russia," 21-year-old protester Nika Maghradze told AFP.

Demonstrators accuse the government of betraying Georgia's bid for EU membership, which is enshrined in its constitution and supported by around 80 percent of the population.

Nugo Chigvinadze, 41, who works in logistics, told AFP at Tuesday's protest that he did not believe the prime minister's claim that the country is still aiming for EU membership.

"Whatever our government is saying is a lie. No one believed it. No one," he said.

"They are not intending to enter the European Union."

- Court challenge rejected -

Pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili -- at loggerheads with the government -- has backed the protest and demanded a re-run of the disputed parliamentary vote.

But, intensifying the crisis, Tbilisi's top court on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit filed by Zurabishvili and opposition parties to overturn the election result.

That announcement came shortly after Kobakhidze -- who has ruled out talks with the opposition -- vowed to punish his opponents.

"Opposition politicians who have orchestrated the violence in recent days while hiding in their offices will not escape responsibility," he told a press conference.

International criticism of Georgia's handling of the protests has grown, with several Western countries saying Tbilisi had used excessive force.

- Kremlin-style language -

Kobakhidze threatened to punish civil servants who join the protests, after several ambassadors and a deputy foreign minister resigned over the crackdown on demonstrators and the decision to suspend EU talks.

"We are closely monitoring everyone's actions, and they will not go without a response," he said.

Using Kremlin-style language, Kobakhidze alleged the protest movement was "funded from abroad".

He also accused non-government groups -- attacked in a repressive pre-election campaign by authorities -- of being behind the protests, vowing that they will "not evade responsibility".

At Tuesday's demonstration, Tsotne, 28, who works in IT, defied the threats of reprisals, saying: "We know we have to fight. It's a peaceful protest, of course but I guess as an individual, I'm ready to defend my country here."

Georgia this year adopted Russian-style legislation designed to restrict the activity of NGOs as well measures that the EU says curb LGBTQ rights.

The laws prompted the United States to slap sanctions on Georgian officials.

But Kobakhidze said his government hoped that the "US attitudes towards us will change after January 20" -- when Donald Trump, who has criticised federal support for gender transition, takes office.

Kobakhidze's threats to the opposition came as more Western leaders criticised Tbilisi's police response to the protests.

NATO chief Mark Rutte on Tuesday slammed as "deeply concerning" the situation in Georgia, condemning "unequivocally" the reports of violence.

(C.Fournier--LPdF)