Reuters. Pro-EU protesters took to streets of Tbilisi on Wednesday (December 4) for seventh evening in a row after a day marked by the arrest of the leader of one of Georgia's four main opposition parties and searches at various organisations' offices.
Georgian opposition media figure, former justice minister and ally of ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, now head of "Coalition for Change" party Nika Gvaramia was detained by police in the capital Tbilisi after being knocked to the ground and falling unconscious, his party said.
The government's decision to suspend EU talks has plunged the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people into political crisis and the authorities claim to have thwarted an attempted revolution.
Critics accuse the government of turning its back on the West and steering an increasingly authoritarian and pro-Russian course, which the ruling party denies.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the prime minister, has repeatedly praised the police for their response to the protests.
Georgia's public ombudsman, a former opposition politician, accused the police on Tuesday of harshly mistreating people detained during demonstrations, saying their treatment amounted to torture.
