Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Georgia’s capital Tbilisi has resounded with the crackle of fireworks late into the night for the past week – their eruptions becoming a symbol of the large pro-EU protests that have plunged the South Caucasus country into crisis.
With riot police using water cannon, tear gas and mass arrests to quell the protests, demonstrators have responded with fireworks, hurling them at police and the imposing parliament building, where many thousands of protesters gather nightly.
The country’s government last week said it was freezing talks on European Union accession until 2028, abruptly halting a long-standing national goal and prompting outrage among many pro-European Georgians.
Alexandre, a 21-year-old student who has been demonstrating most nights, said the protesters’ use of fireworks represented a form of self-defence against a crackdown that has seen over 300 people detained. He said he had not personally thrown fireworks.
“Fireworks are the only thing for us to defend from the police, because police use violence against us,” he said, declining to give his family name.
Each night, the city sees a small hardcore of protesters with covered faces launch pyrotechnics at armoured riot police officers.
Often, it develops into an extended standoff, with protesters hurling fireworks into parliament, while officers respond with hoses of cold water.
In one scene, broadcast by Georgian television channels last week, a protester fired volleys of fireworks at officers from what appeared to be an improvised launcher.
The interior ministry says scores of its officers have been injured at the demonstrations.
