Displaying items by tag: disputed election

Giorgi Gakharia, former prime minister and leader of the opposition party For Georgia, is in hospital with facial and head injuries, after a brutal assault by several men in a hotel lobby. His health was later confirmed to be stable. His party, calling this a politically motivated attack, accused the government of attempting to intimidate opposition voices. Georgia’s ongoing political crisis intensified after the disputed October parliamentary elections. Protests against the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party have erupted in Tbilisi and other cities, particularly after the government’s announcement to delay EU accession talks. The protests have led to widespread crackdowns, including arrests and beatings, drawing criticism from human rights groups. The attack on Gakharia follows similar assaults on opposition members and journalists.

The information minister has declared that attacks on several locations in the capital, Freetown, were in fact a failed coup attempt led mainly by bodyguards of the previous president, Ernest Koroma. On 26 November they attacked a military barracks and a prison, freeing over 200 prisoners, but by the next day calm had been restored by the security forces, with most of the attackers killed or captured. President Bio remains unharmed. Sierra Leone, which is still recovering from a 1991-2002 civil war in which more than 50,000 were killed, has been tense since Bio was re-elected in June. The result was rejected by the main opposition candidate and questioned by international partners including the USA and the EU.