More than 200 people detained in Georgia during protests over the suspension of EU talks

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — More than 200 people have been detained after four nights of protests in the Georgian capital following the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union after the block lambasted the country's parliamentary election.

The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the country’s Oct. 26 parliamentary election, widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the EU, has sparked mass demonstrations, with the opposition boycotting the parliament.

The opposition and the country's pro-Western president also accused the vote of being rigged with Moscow's help.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament for the fourth night on Sunday. Some protesters threw fireworks at police who responded by deploying tear gas and water cannon.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said Monday that 224 protesters were detained on administrative charges and three arrested on criminal charges. So far, 113 police officers needed medical treatment while three others were hospitalized.

Georgia's President Salome Zourabichvili said that many of the arrested protesters had injuries to their heads and faces, including broken bones and eye sockets. Writing on X and citing lawyers who represent the detained, she said some people were subject to systematic beatings between arrest and transportation to detention facilities.

Zourabichvili holds a largely ceremonial role and is due to step down at the end of the year. She has indicated she will remain in her post until another president is chosen by a “legtimate" parliament.

Zourabichvili has accused the ruling party of using Russian methods to crack down on freedom of speech and to rig the election.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Monday that Russia views parallels between events in Georgia and those in 2013 and 2014 in Ukraine when a wave of protests was triggered by the then pro-Russian president's decision not to sign an association agreement with the EU.

Peskov said Russia is not interfering in Georgia but suggested others were trying to “destabilize the situation.”

“All the signs are of an attempt to carry out an Orange Revolution,” he said, referring to protests following a disputed election in Ukraine over the winter of 2004-2005 which later saw a pro-Western leader come to power.

Ahead of Sunday's protest, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of Georgian Dream warned that “any violation of the law will be met with the full rigor of the law.”

“Neither will those politicians who hide in their offices and sacrifice members of their violent groups to severe punishment escape responsibility,” he said at a briefing.

He insisted it wasn’t true that Georgia’s European integration had been halted. “The only thing we have rejected is the shameful and offensive blackmail, which was, in fact, a significant obstacle to our country’s European integration.”

The government’s announcement to suspend the EU membership process came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing October's election in Georgia as neither free nor fair.

Kobakhidze also dismissed the U.S. State Department’s statement Saturday which announced the suspension of its strategic relationship with Georgia and condemned the decision to halt its efforts toward EU accession.

“You can see that the outgoing (U.S.) administration is trying to leave the new administration with as difficult a legacy as possible. They are doing this regarding Ukraine, and now also concerning Georgia,” Kobakhidze said. “This will not have any fundamental significance. We will wait for the new administration and discuss everything with them.”

Kobakhidze also confirmed that Georgia’s ambassador to the U.S., David Zalkaliani, had become the latest of a number of diplomats to stand down since the protests started.

The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas spoke to President Zourabichvili Sunday to condemn the violence against protesters and to note that “the actions of the government run counter to the will of the people,” Costa wrote on X.

Also Sunday, Kallas and EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos released a joint statement.

“We note that this announcement marks a shift from the policies of all previous Georgian governments and the European aspirations of the vast majority of the Georgian people, as enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia,” the statement said.

It reiterated the EU’s “serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding of the country” and urged Georgian authorities to “respect the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and refrain from using force against peaceful protesters, politicians and media representatives.”

The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations but put its accession on hold and cut financial support earlier this year after the passage of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.

Georgian Dream has increasingly adopted repressive laws mirroring those in Russia which crack down on freedom of speech and curtail LGBTQ+ rights. A law banning same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex couples and public endorsement and depictions of LGBTQ+ relations and people in the media came into force Monday.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday, Zourabichvili said that her country was becoming a “quasi-Russian” state and that Georgian Dream controlled the major institutions.

“We are not demanding a revolution. We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again,” Zourabichvili said.

Protesters hold an EU and Georgian national flags during a rally against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Protesters with Georgian national flags shout toward police during a rally against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A police officer kicks a canister during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators stand in front of police during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators warm themselves next to a burning barricade during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A demonstrator fires a firecracker towards police during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators run away from a cloud of tear gas during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Police officers detain a demonstrator at a subway station during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A woman helps a demonstrator up at a subway station during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Police officers detain journalist Giorgi Chamelishvili during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Demonstrators run away from a cloud of tear gas during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Police officers detain demonstrators at a subway station during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — An impeachment complaint was filed Monday against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing a legal storm over a death threat she made against the president and her alleged role in extra-judicial killings of drug suspects, corruption and failure to stand up to Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea.

The impeachment bid filed by several prominent civil society activists in the House of Representatives accuses Duterte of violating the country’s Constitution, betrayal of public trust and other “high crimes,” including the death threats she made against the president, his wife and the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Duterte did not immediately issue any response to the impeachment bid, which accused her of about two dozen alleged crimes.

“We're hoping that with this complaint, we can end the nightmare that our vice president has brought to the people,” said Rep. Percival Cendana, who gave the required endorsement of the complaint.

The vice president’s threats showed the “extent of respondent’s mental incapacity, her depravity and lack of mental fitness to continue holding the high office of vice president of the Philippines,” said a copy of the complaint seen by The Associated Press. “The same constitute not only betrayal of public trust but also a high crime which would warrant her immediate impeachment from office.”

Duterte, a 46-year-old lawyer, was also accused in the complaint of having unexplained wealth and of allowing a continuation of the extra-judicial killings of drug suspects begun by her father, a former mayor of southern Davao City, when she held that position in the past.

The vice president’s legal troubles have unfolded with the backdrop of her increasingly bitter political feud with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his allies. She said in online news conference on Nov. 23 that she has contracted an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife and Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed, a threat she warned was not a joke.

She later said she was not threatening him but was expressing concern for her own safety.

The impeachment complaint will be scrutinized by the Philippine Congress, which is dominated by allies of Marcos and his cousin and key backer, Romualdez, who also has been politically at odds with the vice president.

The process could take weeks or months. Congress is to start its Christmas recess on Dec. 20 and resume on Jan. 13. Many legislators will then start campaigning for reelection before May 12 midterm elections.

The House has been investigating the alleged misuse of 612.5 million pesos ($10.3 million) of confidential and intelligence funds received by Duterte’s offices as vice president and education secretary. She has since left the education post.

She has refused to respond to questions in detail in tense televised hearings. Duterte also vehemently protested when her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, was ordered temporarily detained for allegedly hampering the inquiry. Lopez has been released from hospital detention.

Philippine police have filed criminal complaints against Duterte and her security staff for allegedly assaulting authorities and disobeying orders in an altercation in Congress over Lopez’s detention.

Duterte has accused Marcos, his wife and Romualdez of corruption, weak leadership and attempting to muzzle her because of speculation she may seek the presidency in 2028.

The National Bureau of Investigation subpoenaed Duterte to face investigators about her threats against them.

The police, military and the national security adviser immediately boosted the security of the Marcoses after the threats.

The president has said an impeachment of Duterte would waste time while the country faces other challenges, but her opponents have said they will proceed to foster accountability and the rule of law.

Marcos and Duterte won landslide victories as running mates in the 2022 election but have since fallen out over key differences. The two offices are elected separately in the Philippines, which has resulted in rivals occupying the country’s top political posts.

Marcos and Duterte differ on their approaches to China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and their views on the deadly anti-drug crackdown conducted by Duterte’s father, Rodrigo Duterte, who was the previous president in addition to ex-mayor of Davao.

The complainants in the impeachment, including former military officers from a group called Magdalo, accused her of refusing to condemn Chinese aggressive actions against Philippine forces in the South China Sea. The complainants did not cite China by name.

The brutal drug crackdown left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead in killings mostly by police that are being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.

The impeachment complaint cited a key witness to the killings, former police officer Arturo Lascanas, as saying that Sara Duterte allowed the extra-judicial killings of drug suspects to continue in Davao city when she served as its mayor. The drug crackdown was launched by her father when he was mayor.

Associated Press journalists Aaron Favila and Joeal Calupitan contributed to this report.

A received copy of an impeachment complaint filed Monday, Dec. 2, 2024 against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte by several prominent opponents and activists at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

House Secretary General, Reginald Velasco, left, receives an impeachment complaint filed Monday, Dec. 2, 2024 against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte by several prominent opponents and activists, including former Senator Leila de Lima, center, and Akbayan Partylist Representative Perci Cendana, right, at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

This combination photo shows Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, left, in Quezon City, Philippines, Nov. 13, 2024, and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Vientiane, Laos, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)