13:45, 21 November 2025

Those detained in Tbilisi complained of harsh police action.

Security forces used excessive force while detaining participants in the November 19 march in Tbilisi, and at the police station, some of those detained were required to strip naked, a lawyer reported.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on November 19, the 357th day of daily protests, clashes occurred between police and protesters in Tbilisi. Security forces detained several marchers after they stepped onto the roadway. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs later announced that 13 people were detained at the protest march in Tbilisi for failing to comply with security forces' demands and insulting police officers. Arrests were also made at the protest on November 20.

Security forces have prevented pro-European protesters from blocking traffic on Rustaveli Avenue since November 6, by forming a human wall of police officers along the roadway near the Georgian Parliament. Until November 6, 2025, demonstrators blocked traffic on Rustaveli Avenue for 343 consecutive days. Since security forces have prevented protesters from entering the roadway, activists have been holding daily marches.

Some of those detained at the protest in Tbilisi on November 19 reported violence and ill-treatment by police, according to lawyer Lasha Tkesheladze, who visited the defendants in custody.

The lawyer stated that police began hitting one of his clients on the head after he fell to the ground during his arrest. Another detainee was forced to kneel in a police van because there were no available seats. The activist was transported to the police station in this position. Already at the station, some of the detained men were required to strip naked and do squats, according to Novosti Georgia.

"A new wave of violence has begun... First of all, I want to say that these people are victims, not lawbreakers," Tkesheladze said.

The activists' court hearings will take place on Saturday, November 22.

We have updated the apps for Android and IOS! We would be grateful for criticism and ideas for development both in Google Play/App Store and on KU pages in social networks. Without installing a VPN, you can read us on Telegram (in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia - with VPN). Using a VPN, you can continue reading "Caucasian Knot" on the website as usual, and on social networks: Facebook*, Instagram*, "VKontakte", "Odnoklassniki" and X. You can watch the "Caucasian Knot" video on YouTube. Send messages to +49 157 72317856 on WhatsApp*, to the same number on Telegram, or write to @Caucasian_Knot.

* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/417387