Five Georgia opposition leaders charged with ‘coup’ attempt after protests

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

The arrests followed clashes connected Saturday, arsenic galore absorption parties boycotted section elections.

Georgian prosecutors connected Monday charged 5 absorption enactment figures with attempting to overthrow the government, after protests on Saturday culminated successful clashes betwixt constabulary and demonstrators successful the country’s superior Tbilisi.

The country’s interior ministry said that 13 radical had been detained successful transportation with the unrest.

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Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators rallied astatine Freedom Square successful Tbilisi connected Saturday, arsenic the state of 3.7 cardinal radical voted successful section elections. Some leaders promised a “peaceful revolution”, adjacent arsenic the largest absorption blocs boycotted the elections.

However, a smaller radical of protesters attempted to participate the statesmanlike palace minutes earlier polls closed. They were repelled by riot constabulary utilizing state and h2o cannon.

The charges against the 5 men transportation a maximum situation condemnation of 9 years. Among those arrested was a world-renowned opera vocalist and activist, Paata Burchuladze, who work retired astatine the rally a declaration claiming “power returns to the people” and branding the authorities “illegitimate.”

Protesters effort to interruption into the statesmanlike palace grounds during an absorption rally connected the time of section elections successful Tbilisi, Georgia October 4, 2025. [Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters]

The interior ministry said connected Saturday it had opened an probe into “calls to violently change Georgia’s law bid oregon overthrow authorities authority” portion Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze vowed much absorption arrests Sunday successful what helium termed an — attempted — “coup.”

He told journalists that “no 1 volition spell unpunished… galore much indispensable expect sentences for the unit they carried retired against the authorities and law-enforcement.”

On Sunday evening, hundreds of demonstrators gathered extracurricular parliament, blocking postulation connected Tbilisi’s main avenue and vowing to support protesting until the ruling Georgian Dream enactment leaves power.

Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS) said it had recovered a ample cache of firearms, ammunition and explosives successful a wood hideout adjacent Tbilisi that was procured by a Georgian nationalist connected instructions from a Georgian antheral warring with Ukrainian forces.

Choosing sides successful a war

Saturday’s section polls were Georgian Dream’s archetypal electoral trial since a disputed parliamentary ballot a twelvemonth ago plunged the Black Sea federation into turmoil and prompted a frost connected Georgia’s EU-candidacy accession bid. In October 2024, Georgian Dream won a comfy triumph successful parliamentary elections that was accused of being fraudulent by the opposition.

The cardinal predetermination committee said Georgian Dream had secured municipal assembly majorities successful each municipality connected Saturday’s predetermination and that its candidates scored landslide wins successful mayoral races successful each cities. These outcomes were mostly expected, with astir absorption parties boycotting the vote.

The usually low-key section elections acquired precocious stakes aft months of raids connected autarkic media, restrictions connected civilian nine and the jailing of dozens of opponents and activists. Rights groups accidental immoderate 60 radical — among them cardinal absorption figures, journalists and activists — person been jailed implicit the past year. Georgian Dream has vowed to prohibition each large absorption parties.

The state has been rocked by protests for implicit a year, with supporters of the absorption accusing the ruling Georgian Dream enactment of authoritarianism, and of seeking to resistance the country, erstwhile among the Soviet Union’s astir pro-Western successor states, backmost towards Russia.

Georgian Dream nevertheless says it is not pro-Russian and that it yet wants to articulation the EU, whilst besides keeping the bid with Moscow and preserving what it calls Georgia’s accepted Orthodox Christian values.

The enactment is wide seen arsenic controlled by billionaire ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is sanctioned by the US for what it calls his promotion of Russian interests.

Leonid Slutsky, Chair of the Russian State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee and a adjacent state of Vladimir Putin, has hailed Georgian Dream’s triumph arsenic an “inspiring triumph” and accused the European Union and Baltic states of “meddling successful the country’s interior affairs,” according to Georgian media outlet Formula News.

The quality tract besides mentioned European Union’s Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas condemning the conditions nether which Georgia’s elections were held saying that they took spot “in an situation of large-scale suppression of dissent.”