Ten of thousands of demonstrators in Tbilisi, led by Georgia’s pro-Western opposition, have reoccupied a key traffic intersection from which they were violently dispersed in the early hours of November 19 by police and special forces.

The camp, which blocked the Chavchavadze intersection for over 30 hours, marked the latest phase of the oppositions’ protest again Georgia’s disputed October 26 parliamentary election, in which the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream party claimed 54% of the vote, despite widespread allegations of fraud.

After spending much of the day on the neighbouring Melikishvili Avenue, protesters were allowed to return to the site of a peaceful encampment which was set up by the opposition on the evening of November 17 in front of Tbilisi State University on Chavchavadze Avenue, which adjoins with Melikishvili. 

Early on the morning of November 19, the encampment was raided and demolished by security forces. Police patrols expelled hundreds of opposition supporters, civil activists, and journalists, forcing them away from the University protest site and onto Melikishvili Avenue, injuring and detaining dozens as they went.

On the evening of November 19, opposition leaders rallied for citizens to mobilise on Melikishvili at 7pm and await further instructions, having announced a phase of “mobile protests” following the breakup of the encampment that morning.

The street gradually filled as 7pm approached, the crowd swelling to tens of thousands. Demonstrators faced a police cordon which blocked their access to the Chavchavadze intersection.

Inexplicably, just after 8pm, security forces moved aside, presumably due to the strength of the crowd, and permitted the thousands on Melikishvili to move back up the street to the initial protest camp site.

Dozens of tents are now back in place outside the University building. “Here I stand, I can do nothing else,” protestors chant, as the opposition state they will resume the encampment until their demands for a second round of elections, under the international supervision, are met. 

The reoccupied encampment far exceeds the size of the initial site set up on Sunday evening, which could indicate its dispersion will more difficult, should the police choose to crack down again, as they inevitably will.

Protesters who have returned to the crossroads have forced out unwelcome pro-government television channel reports from their midst, and posters have been tacked to lampposts around the campsite stating “We won’t let Georgian Dream into Parliament. Get ready to fight”.