Thousands rally in Georgia as president challenges vote in court

Tbilisi: Thousands rallied in Georgia on Tuesday in support of President Salome Zurabishvili's lawsuit to annul last month's parliamentary election result, which the pro-Western opposition denounced as rigged in favour of the ruling party.

The rally came hours after police violently dismantled a sit-in protest outside Tbilisi State University, where dozens of demonstrators had set up tents and blocked traffic in protest at the contested vote.

The European Union and the United States have called for a probe into "irregularities" during the October 26 election, won by the governing Georgian Dream party.

The opposition says the government is skewing the Caucasus country's foreign policy towards Russia and derailing its path to joining the European Union, an accusation Georgian Dream denies.

Pro-Western president Zurabishvili -- who is at loggerheads with Georgian Dream -- has called the vote illegitimate and accused Russia of interference, a claim Moscow has denied.

On Tuesday, she "filed a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court of Georgia, requesting the annulment of the election results as unconstitutional", her office said in a statement.

Zurabishvili wants the court to cancel the results "over widespread violations of voting universality and ballot secrecy", said Eka Beselia, the lawyer representing the president in the court.

On Tuesday evening, several thousand demonstrators gathered outside Tbilisi State University, where police had earlier violently dispersed dozens of anti-government demonstrators.

Addressing the crowd, opposition leaders called for round-the-clock permanent rallies.

"We will never accept the rigged election (result)," said one of the demonstrators, 20-year-old university student Natela Gabiskiria.

"We support Zurabishvili's demand that the constitutional court annuls Georgian Dream's fake (electoral) victory," she told AFP.

Since the vote, tens of thousands have taken to the streets in Tbilisi to protest against alleged electoral fraud.

Pro-Western opposition parties have refused to recognise the election result or enter the newly elected parliament, which they deem "illegitimate".

Zurabishvili has joined the opposition's calls for a new vote and has refused to issue a decree to convene the new parliament.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, of Georgian Dream, has insisted the elections were free and fair and said parliament would convene Monday even without a presidential summons.

But a leading constitutional law expert, Vakhushti Menabde, said on social media Tuesday that the "new parliament can't convene until the constitutional court delivers its ruling on Zurabishvili's lawsuit".

The court has one month to deliver its judgement.

Early Tuesday, massed police, some wearing masks, beat and forcefully dragged away journalists and protesters holding Georgian and EU flags outside Tbilisi State University, an AFP photographer witnessed.

The Interior Ministry reported that 16 people were arrested for "disobeying police", with three detainees later released.

The leader of the opposition Akhali party, Nika Gvaramia, said members of his party "have been detained and injured.

Party activists have been beaten and arrested."

Ahead of the crackdown, the interior ministry urged protesters to disperse, saying "freedom of assembly and expression does not include the right to deliberately disrupt road traffic".

The opposition has announced a new mass rally for when the new legislature holds its first session.

Amnesty International called on the Georgian authorities "to fully comply with their obligations to respect and protect the right to freedom of assembly."

"People have a right to peacefully protest without fear of violence, intimidation, or unlawful arrests" the group said in a statement, adding that "all peaceful protesters who remain in detention must be immediately released."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday that the bloc "will send a mission to Georgia... and the election will have to be investigated".

"The EU will never abandon you and your fight for EU values," he said in a statement after a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Ahead of the elections, Brussels warned Tbilisi that the conduct of the vote would be decisive for its prospects of joining the bloc.