Jan 15 (Reuters) - Giorgi Gakharia, a former Prime Minister of Georgia now leading one of the main opposition groups in the country, was hospitalized on Tuesday evening after being severely beaten, a spokesperson for his party informed Reuters.
According to Ana Buchukuri, Gakharia suffered injuries to his face and head during an attack by multiple individuals in a hotel lobby in Batumi, a city on the Black Sea coast.
"He was brutally assaulted but survived," she stated.
Gakharia, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, reported that his condition was stable.
His party, For Georgia, labeled the attack a "brutal, coordinated group assault" and placed blame on the government.
In a statement quoted by the Interpress news agency, the party emphasized, "This politically motivated attack is a clear effort to intimidate the opposition and silence dissenting voices."
Georgia has been thrust into a political crisis since the October parliamentary election, which the opposition claims was rigged by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party. The GD, in power since 2012, denies any accusations of foul play.
Since November, Georgians have been protesting nightly in Tbilisi and other cities after the government announced a freeze on European Union accession talks until 2028.
The pro-EU demonstrations have faced a harsh response from the police, with numerous arrests and incidents of violence reported by rights groups. The government has stood by the actions of the police.
The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, a rights organization, highlighted in a statement following Gakharia's assault, "Physical retaliation and the incitement of violence against citizens by members of the 'Georgian Dream' party have become normalized in the political landscape. The inadequate response of investigative bodies and the negligence towards crimes committed against protestors, journalists, and political figures exacerbate the criminal environment in the country."
A spokesperson for the Georgian Dream party had not responded to Reuters' request for comment at the time.
The attack on Gakharia, who held the position of Georgia's Prime Minister from 2019 to 2021, comes after other assaults on opposition figures and prominent journalists in recent months.
Nika Gvaramia, head of the Coalition for Change party, was thrown to the ground during his arrest by police in Tbilisi in December. Subsequently, he was imprisoned for 12 days on charges of minor hooliganism and disrespecting the authorities.
Buchukuri, the party's spokesperson, mentioned that the identities of Gakharia's attackers remain unknown, and the party has urged the release of any security footage from the hotel to assist the police in their investigations.