Eka Beselia, leader of the For Justice party, has called for mass strikes across Georgia in response to the violent crackdown on protesters during the recent demonstrations. Speaking to Front News, Beselia condemned the brutality displayed by law enforcement, saying that the violence witnessed over the past two nights could have easily led to fatalities.
“I’ve participated in numerous protests, but I’ve rarely witnessed such savagery,” Beselia stated. “By God’s grace, we haven’t lost any lives yet, but the level of violence we’ve seen makes it clear that deaths could have occurred. The brutality of the attacks, especially on individuals already on the ground, is beyond belief. It’s clear that this violence was intended to inflict serious harm,” she stated.
Beselia further suggested that the perpetrators were not Georgian, but instead speculated that Russian forces may have been involved in the operations due to the extreme violence displayed, drawing comparisons to similar tactics used during the 2007 November 7 crackdown and the May 26, 2011 events. She condemned the actions of the current government, accusing them of steering the country toward Russia and abandoning the nation’s European aspirations.
Beselia called for organized resistance, urging the public, particularly those in the public sector, to initiate mass strikes as a form of constitutional protest. “This is not just a political issue; it’s a matter of freedom and democracy,” she said. “In any country where people fight for their rights, dictatorship has never prevailed. We must begin mass strikes to resist this violent system,” she said.
The opposition party leader encouraged young people to avoid remaining at protests into the early hours of the morning, warning that confrontations often escalate during those hours. She emphasized the need for peaceful, popular resistance to confront the current government’s tactics.
