Georgia is a nation in turmoil where two worlds are being played out in the capital
There was something desperately oppressive that came with being in Tbilisi today.
Perhaps it was the sight of hundreds of police officers, massed together and lurking in packs, waiting for something to happen. Maybe it was the dark clouds that poured rain over the streets.
But most likely it was the sense that this is a city, and a country, that is uncomfortable with itself. That Georgia is a nation in turmoil.
Protests continue in Georgia, where many are convinced their nation is led by imposters
A month after its general election, this is a country where many still seethe, convinced that their votes were negated by corruption and that their nation is now led by imposters.
Georgian Dream may have been announced as the winning party, but it was a victory widely denounced as illegitimate.
The European Union, which Georgia has long wanted to join, has pointedly refused to endorse the result. And so here in Tbilisi, there are two worlds being played out.
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19 Nov: Protesters clash with police in Georgia
In one, inside the towering Soviet-era government building, the MPs of Georgian Dream, along with their billionaire oligarch founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, have convened the new parliament for the first time, endorsed themselves as the leaders of Georgia and declared all to be well with the world.
And in the other universe, which starts a short stumble away in the square outside the same building, there are opposition politicians denouncing the election as a sham, the government as illegal and the new parliament as unconstitutional.
And around them are thousands of protesters who say their country has been stolen, some of whom think it’s all a Russian coup with Ivanishvili at its centre.
As a firecracker is hurled over a temporary metal barrier, and into the parliament building, I bump into Luka, who has left his job in Paris to become an activist in his home country.
He tells me he’s already been arrested once for protesting, and says he was beaten and thrown into jail. He is unrepentant and full of ire.
“This regime is a dictatorship,” he says. “They have no regard for human life. They have no regard for human decency. They care about money and staying in power.
“The Russian grasp is stronger than we’ve even realised. So this should be a message to everyone in Europe as well, that Russia is not that easy to deal with.”
He says he is proud that the protests have been peaceful, but there is a streak of frustration: “We’re trying to avoid any type of bloodshed but given the reality of what we are facing, it’s becoming more and more clear with every passing day that at some point, we will have to get physical.”
There is a stage in the front of the building, surrounded by an array of booming loudspeakers.
Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the opposition Unity movement and one of the country’s best-known politicians, is telling his audience to keep strong, insisting that they will win in the end.
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Vashadze is loud and forceful from the stage. When we meet a few minutes later, he is quieter and thoughtful. But ask him about the election, about the state of his country’s democracy, and his eyes light up.
“This is a constitutional coup,” he says. “This is completely against the Georgian constitution, against the will of Georgian people.
“This is a Russian special operation against Georgian national interest, and it’s been conducted by Georgian Dream.
“They call themselves the government of Georgia but from today on, we will not call them ‘the government’ anymore.
“We are fighting against Russian interests here in Georgia. So that is why we need support from our Western partners.”
He stops and fixes my gaze. I suspect that he sees our conversation as a way of getting his message out to some Western politicians.
I ask what kind of action he wants to see taken.
“Sanctions, sanctioning of the individuals who are behaving against the constitution and against the law and all different types of like real actions that they can follow.”
It is a call for somebody, somewhere, to do something. And that is the theme that comes across.
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These people, huddled against the downpour, banging the parliament’s wall, whistling and booing, feel as if they have been cheated.
But they also feel ignored and unseen, desperate for help and fearful of the future. In this relentless rain, it is very hard to feel optimistic.
World
Egypt: Two Britons believed to be among 16 missing as tourist boat sinks after being ‘hit by large wave’
Two Britons are believed to be among more than a dozen people missing after a boat sank in the Red Sea off the Egyptian coast.
The yacht, called Sea Story, had 44 people on board, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 13 crew.
Authorities are searching for 16 people, including 12 foreign nationals and four Egyptians, the governor of the Red Sea region said, adding that 28 other people had been rescued.
Preliminary reports suggested a sudden large wave struck the vessel, capsizing it within about five minutes, governor Amr Hanafi said.
“Some passengers were in their cabins, which is why they were unable to escape,” he added in a statement.
Survivors rescued from the Sea Story in Marsa Alam. Pic: STR/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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Passengers rescued from sunken tourist boat
The people who were rescued only suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scrapes with none needing hospital treatment.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office spokesperson said: “We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Egypt and are in contact with the local authorities.”
The foreign nationals aboard the 34-metre-long vessel, owned by an Egyptian national, included Americans, Belgians, British, Chinese, Finns, Germans, Irish, Poles, Slovakians, Spanish, and Swiss.
Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits before the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March, according to officials.
The four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht was part of a multi-day diving trip when it went down near the coastal town of Marsa Alam following warnings about rough weather.
Officials said a distress call was received at 5.30am local time on Monday.
The boat had left Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to reach its destination of Hurghada Marina on 29 November.
The Sea Story had 44 people on board. File pic: Dive Pro Liveaboard
Some survivors had been airlifted to safety on a helicopter, officials said.
The firm that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, said it has no information on the matter.
According to its maker’s website, the Sea Story was built in 2022.
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The incident comes after the Egyptian Meteorological Authority issued a warning on Saturday about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea.
The organisation had advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.
Some tourist companies have stopped or limited operations on the Red Sea due to the potential dangers from conflicts in the region.
A motion has been filed to drop the charges against Donald Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 US presidential election result.
Mr Trump was first indicted on four felonies in August 2023: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The president-elect pleaded not guilty to all charges and the case was then put on hold for months as Mr Trump’s team argued he could not be prosecuted.
Special Counsel Jack Smith. Pic: Reuters
Donald Trump supporters storm the US Capitol
On Monday, prosecutors working with special counsel Jack Smith, who had led the investigation, asked a federal judge to dismiss the case over long-standing US justice department policy, dating back to the 1970s, that presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office.
It marks the end of the department’s landmark effort to hold Mr Trump accountable for the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 when thousands of Trump supporters assaulted police, broke through barricades, and swarmed the Capitol in a bid to prevent the US Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Mr Smith’s team had been assessing how to wind down both the election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Mr Trump’s election victory over vice president Kamala Harris earlier this month, effectively killing any chance of success for the case.
In court papers, prosecutors said “the [US] Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated”.
They said the ban [on prosecuting sitting presidents] “is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind”.
Mr Trump, who has said he would sack Mr Smith as soon as he takes office in January, and promised to pardon some convicted rioters, has long dismissed both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case as politically motivated.
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington. Pic: AP
He was accused of illegally keeping classified papers after leaving office in 2021, some of which were allegedly found in his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
The election interference case stalled after the US Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, which Mr Trump’s lawyers exploited to demand the charges against him be dismissed.
Mr Smith’s request to drop the case still needs to be approved by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
No date had been set for a trial.
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At least 1,500 cases have been brought against those accused of trying to overthrow the election result on 6 January 2021, resulting in more than 1,100 convictions, the Associated Press said.
More than 950 defendants have been sentenced and 600 of them jailed for terms ranging from a few days to 22 years.
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