Georgian Police Use Water Cannon To Disperse Protesters Who Refuse To Leave In Tbilisi

TBILISI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th November, 2020) Georgian police are dispersing an opposition protest in front of the Central Election Commission (CEC) building in the capital city of Tbilisi, but protesters do not plan to leave.

"Our activists are going to bring a few tents, we'll spend the night here and, like we promised, we are not planning to disperse," one of the protesters told Sputnik around midnight on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Georgina tv channels were showing drone footage of police trying to disperse the protesters with water cannons.

According to a Sputnik correspondent, special police forces were seen at the Central Election Commission building, as well as water cannons. Law enforcement officers were calling on protesters to leave and threatening to use force.

Earlier, a Sputnik correspondent reported that a massive protest of the Georgian opposition and their supporters was being held on Sunday outside the country's parliament in Tbilisi.

The protesters later marched to the CEC building. The demonstrators said they refused to recognize the results of the recent general election and were demanding a new one.

According to a Sputnik correspondent, several demonstrators were injured when Georgian police used a water cannon to break up the crowd earlier on Sunday.

The Georgian Interior Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that law enforcement officers were justified in their response to the demonstrators, as protesters had tried to storm the CEC building and used brute force in defiance of police orders.

Georgia held a general election on October 31, which resulted in the ruling Georgian Dream party emerging as the winner. Altogether, seven political parties that managed to cross the one-percent threshold became eligible for entering the legislature. Following the announcement of the results, the country's opposition has been organizing protests, calling for another election.