Georgia: The Firework Protests
:A Report and Video Footage from the Streets of Tbilisi
Tuesday, December 3 marked the sixth consecutive night of clashes between police and anti-government protesters in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. We offer the following short report and video footage courtesy of Georgian anarchists.
The demonstrators are responding to the recent victory of the political party started by the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose wealth adds up to a quarter of Georgia’s entire gross domestic product. This party has been pursuing an agenda emulating the regime of Vladimir Putin, seeking to consolidate power while directing public resentment at scapegoats—for example, passing legislation in October banning same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex couples, gender-affirming care, and positive portrayals of LGBTQ+ people in the media.
Like Armenia and Serbia, Georgia has become a destination for Russians fleeing the recruitment drives supplying Putin with cannon fodder to toss into the invasion of Ukraine. Less than a month ago, Russian anarchist exiles in Georgia reported that the victory of the pro-Putin party Georgian Dream in the parliamentary elections of October 26 had brought the opposition movement to an impasse:
It seems that the mainstream opposition has reached a dead end. They cannot move to more radical actions—they act within the framework of liberal democracies, and the ruling party does not care about resistance that remains within the framework of the law, as they have force and administrative resources on their side. November 4 was a very dismal rally, there were much fewer people than at the protests against the “foreign agent law”1 (but still quite a lot). In general, it feels like there is no trust in the opposition parties.
Over the past week, however, protesters have adopted more radical tactics, engaging in frontal confrontations with the police.
Although anarchists are among the tens of thousands of participants in these protests, they comprise a small minority. The common sentiment connecting the participants is distrust of party politics in general, opposition to the stranglehold that the Georgian Dream party has on power, and hostility towards Russia, which has ruled Georgia for the better part of the past two centuries and defeated it in a war in 2008.
While some pundits have joined pro-Russia politicians in comparing the protests in Georgia to the Maidan protests that led to the Ukrainian Revolution in 2014, there are significant differences. For example, the authors of the following text report no overt nationalist or fascist involvement in the demonstrations. Yet it remains to be seen whether a revolutionary horizon could emerge to compete with the neoliberal goal of integrating Georgia into the European market.
Even if no such horizon emerges, it is significant that the movement in Georgia has been compelled to shift from simply holding rallies to engaging in open conflict. As in 2019, when revolt spread from Hong Kong and Ecuador to Chile and Catalunya like a string of firecrackers going off around the globe, participatory resistance in one part of the world often foreshadows or inspires resistance in another. The tactics that serve demonstrators in one struggle are often taken up elsewhere.2
And the challenges that people in Georgia face—rule by billionaires, a reactionary clampdown on freedoms, an opposition controlled by feeble liberal leadership, and an absence of revolutionary alternatives—are similar to the challenges that hundreds of millions face in the United States and elsewhere around the world.
Here follows the perspective from Tbilisi.
An anarchist flag seen on the barricades in Tbilisi on the night of December 2, 2024.
Background
The Georgian Dream party has been in power since 2013. It is spearheaded by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia. Over the past decade, this party has advanced a Pro-Russian agenda, turning the country slowly and surely away from the West. This year, Ivanishvili went so far as to claim that the 2008 Russo-Georgian war was started by Georgia—a core claim of Russian propaganda. In the parliamentary elections of October 2024, the Georgian Dream party won by a significant margin amid widespread claims of voter intimidation, bribery, and fraud. A few protests took place afterwards, but the energy of the Georgian citizens was at a low. How many protests, peaceful or otherwise, had taken place since the rise of Georgian Dream with little tangible results?
The straws that broke the camel’s back were, first, the nomination for president (which is performed by the ruling parliamentarian party) of a former football player with no qualifications and a history of allegiance to Georgian Dream and to Russia—and, second, the confirmation that the talks regarding joining the European Union will cease until 2028. This second point was especially ironic, given that Georgian Dream propaganda has featured a lot of EU imagery. The outrage over this second point struck the match that set off the firework protests.
Friday Night, November 29
Protesters gathered by the tens of thousands outside of the Parliament and began their demonstration. One could hear the chanting of “Slaves! Slaves!” and rhythmic banging at the metal gates that protect the doors of parliament. Riot police were sent out; by 11 pm, they were deploying tear gas. The police began making arrests; video footage shows several beatings, as well as officers pulling citizens into the wall of police.
Generally, the demonstrators were unprepared for the clashes of the first night. Some had had the foresight to bring gas masks and eye protection, but most were forced to retreat. Those who had come prepared became the first line of attack and they persisted throughout the night—many until noon the next day—throwing eggs and shooting fireworks into the sky.
Saturday Night, November 30
This time, demonstrators showed up angrier and more prepared. The fireworks of the previous day had tripled in abundance. Since the new year was coming up, a great deal of fireworks were available for purchase. This is a longstanding Tbilisi tradition thanks to a lack of regulation regarding who can purchase fireworks. Every new year, thousands of fireworks light the sky. Having spent New Year’s Eve in both North America and Tbilisi, the fireworks in Tbilisi are comparable to the kind of display you can see in major metropolitan areas of the United States on the Fourth of July.
November 30, Tbilisi. It started as just a few fireworks in the sky.
Demonstrators began aiming fireworks directly at the parliament building. There were people scaling the walls to break the windows so that the fireworks could be thrown inside, amid loud cheering from the entire crowd. Throughout the night, the booms of fireworks could be heard.
This time, the police arrived late, after protesters had already assembled several barricades, blocking the side streets that lead into the main avenue. I witnessed metal benches being pulled from their foundations and added to a barricade many times that night. Fires were lit, and people rushed to the front lines to throw firework “grenades” at the police.
November 30, Tbilisi. Demonstrators gather by the parliament building.
That night, some ingenious demonstrator fashioned a kind of makeshift firework launcher that shot several fireworks on some sort of rotating barrel. Aiming it directly at the police, he dodged a water cannon shooting water mixed with tear gas. Word spread through WhatsApp and Telegram urging demonstrators to assist in creating barricades and directly fighting the police.
Around 2 am, the police were able to break through the barricades and unleash the tear gas, resulting in a kind of mass stampede. Demonstrators were yelling to each other not to run too fast, to be mindful of each other. Many retreated, but many remained until the next day, making more barricades, setting fires, launching fireworks, and throwing whatever they could at the advancing police.
Many people were beaten and arrested in the course of Saturday night. The police grabbed whoever they could, beat them, and detained them. Those who were beaten very badly, often to the point of losing consciousness, were released, but fined between 2000 and 3000 lari [the equivalent of up to approximately $1000]—leading one badly beaten person to say to my cousin, “They beat us unconscious and then they fine us for it—it’s like a mass mugging!”
Sunday Night, December 1
Those who sustained less serious injuries were put on trial on Sunday. They were given inadequate council, forced to defend themselves, and accused of being “intimidators” who were instigating violence against individual policeman. My cousin’s friend is expected to be held in jail for seven days.
Nonetheless, on Sunday night, a similar amount of people hit the streets. All the tactics used before had solidified and protesters brought whatever they could to help. Once again, barricades were built, fires were set, fireworks were thrown, and street objects were dismantled to aid in the fight. My sister witnessed a few demonstrators taking apart the outdoor umbrellas of a restaurant. When the restaurant owner came out, the owner helped instruct the demonstrators regarding how to properly disassemble them so that the demonstrators wouldn’t get hurt.
Monday Night, December 2
In addition to the suspension of the European Union candidacy, Monday marked the first day that the new anti-LGBTQ+ law went into effect.
Monday was more of a standstill. Instead of at the parliament, the fighting took place on the street. There was a defense line of robocops holding their plastic shields, and on the opposite end, we had our fighters shooting off fireworks. However, the police were using copious amounts of tear gas. You could feel the effects from a mile away. They were also using rubber bullets. This was happening at the very front of the street. People in the back continued making barricades and blocking off side entrances. There were people handing out saline solution, sandwiches, water, and goggles.
Georgians aren’t generally organized. They rely on communication at the scene and word of mouth. In the past, during demonstrations, this has led to a lot of misunderstandings and to the spread of misinformation, which ultimately resulted in the demonstrations fizzling out. This time, however, people seem to be in complete agreement: it’s time to escalate. I heard no demands to curb the actions under the vague umbrella of “peaceful demonstration.” Instead, wild cheers accompanied any action that threatened the foundations of the parliament. If the doors could have been wrenched open, I have no doubt that we would have flooded through.
In general, the outcome of these ongoing demonstrations remains unclear. International news sources have reported that the participants are calling for another election, but I don’t think that is the case. The time for diplomatic appeasement seems to have passed. Whether this will result in outright revolution is unclear. But the protests don’t seem to be slowing.
Tuesday Night, December 3
We have received no report from Tuesday night, only the following videos.
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A law requiring organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as “agents of foreign influence.” Charging that the law was modeled on Russian legislation used to target opponents of President Vladimir Putin, opposition groups staged some of the largest protests in Georgia since it became independent in 1991. Nonetheless, the law was passed in June 2024. ↩
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In connection with this, we note that some participants in the unrest in Tbilisi have been using this tool to track the movements of police and ambulances. ↩