More than 30 persons have been identified and prosecuted for participating in the riots, and proceedings have also been initiated against 372 individuals, of whom 62 have been subjected to administrative detention, Darajvelidze said at a press conference.

The deputy minister also detailed that more than 150 police officers suffered injuries such as burns, fractures, and head injuries, and many needed surgery. Some 60 theft cases were recorded in shopping malls, stores, open-air bars, restaurants, and supermarkets. Various equipment, money, clothes, and other items were stolen, and a Swarovski jewelry store adjacent to the parliament building was also the target of a hit-and-run robbery, the deputy minister said.

Darajvelidze added that during the rallies, rioters destroyed the city’s infrastructure and damaged cars, motorcycles, and citizens’ personal belongings.

The opposition protests began after Prime Minister Irakli Kobajidze suspended negotiations with the European Union on the country’s accession process to the community bloc until 2028, and critics of the current government continued to protest in front of the parliament building.

The rioters, joined at one point by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, threw blunt objects and fireworks at law enforcement officers who, in turn, tried to disperse the crowd with water cannons and tear gas.

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