"FORESTIER-WALKER: On November 28 last year, the prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced that Georgia would halt European integration for four years. (SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLING) FORESTIER-WALKER: For the thousands of Georgians who thronged the streets that night and for weeks to come, his speech was considered a goodwill gesture to Russia and an insult to their dream of joining the European Union."
"This past year, the government has been crushing dissent with beatings and arrests, the jailing of opposition leaders, big fines for protesters and the criminalization of Western-funded NGOs and the media. (CROSSTALK) FORESTIER-WALKER: Now it's restructuring the universities, like this one. Students, the backbone of the protest movement, are the ultimate target, says Giorgi Gvalia, vice-rector of Ilia State University."
Thousands of Georgians held nonstop protests in Tbilisi to oppose a government decision to pause European integration for four years. Protesters faced tear gas, water cannons, beatings and arrests while using fireworks and lasers against riot police. Demonstrators view the policy shift as a goodwill gesture toward Russia, which still occupies two breakaway regions. Authorities have jailed opposition leaders, levied large fines on protesters and criminalized Western-funded NGOs and media. The government has initiated changes to university governance, prompting concerns that students, central to the protest movement, are being singled out as targets of repression.
Read at www.npr.org
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