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THE FACE EUEUEUYour browser does not support the element.of the woman in the courtroom was covered in green and yellow bruises. She was being fined 500 lari ($178); police had arrested her at an anti-government protest. They had also, she said, shattered her orbital bone. Many of the demonstrators filing through Tbilisi’s courts have such wounds: bandaged skulls, splints on broken noses. They target the face, says Tamar Oniani of Georgia’s Association of Young Lawyers. It creates a public signal that “if you’re gonna come here again, then you receive this.”Georgians have been demonstrating for three weeks, since Georgian Dream, the Russia-friendly ruling party, suspended efforts to join the European Union. For the first week, police tried to brutally suppress the protests. Then they changed tack, letting the demonstrations go ahead but arresting participants at home or work. They are subjected to physical violence or threats while in custody, says Ms Oniani, often including threats of rape.The repression is not yet working. Every night thousands flood the streets of Tbilisi. Vocational and hobby groups organise their own marches: health-care workers, rock climbers. There are protests in smaller towns too. The government has raised fines and made arbitrary detention easier. “They are losing the propaganda battle,” says Shota Utiashvili of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank in Tbilisi. Some broadcasters at pro-government channels have quit, and there are rumours of defections in the civil service. The international response has been muted. Kaja Kallas, the ’s foreign-policy chief, wants sanctions against Georgian Dream leaders. Those were blocked at a summit of foreign ministers on December 16th by Hungary and Slovakia, the Kremlin’s best friends in Europe. An American package is reportedly in the works.“Not everyone can afford to stand here every day,” says Tamar Makatsaria, who is at the protests every night waving an flag. The government hopes to intimidate the demonstrations’ leaders and let anger fade away over the holidays. It may succeed.
