Caucasus

Photo: David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters

NYTimes:
Riot police in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, today employed extensive force today in the face of protests against the country’s pro-Western government.

The police sweep, while it cleared the avenue at least temporarily, underlined the intensity of the challenge to the government and reputation of President Mikheil Saakashvili, who rose to power with peaceful protests in 2003 and has cast himself as the most democratic ruler in the Caucasus.

The opposition has accused him of running centralized government intolerant of dissent and undermined by high-level corruption and police and prosecutorial abuse.

Opposition leaders labeled the police action a political crackdown and mass punishment, and called for Georgians to gather in renewed protests. Georgia is a small and tightly networked nation. The possibility of escalation, or further clashes and police action, seemed high.