Within the last 10 minutes, large numbers of riot police have gathered in Freedom Square and around parliament. Protesters are peacefully facing them off and, as yet, the special forces have not been instructed to clear the protesters, though the water cannons stand ready.
Salome Zurabishvili went to Freedom Square to address the riot police directly, clearly emotional. She asked the young men, stood facing Rustaveli Avenue in silence behind their shields, to step down and fight for Georgia, not Georgian Dream.
Ignored, she asked them “Won’t you answer your President?”
“It is your duty to protect the statehood of this country and to protect its citizens. It is not your duty to disperse people. Do you serve Russia or Georgia?” she asked. “To whom did you swear your allegiance? I wonder what your answer is. Are you not responding to your president? Do you not think about your future? About the country? The children? Or even your ancestors?”
The supporters cheered on their president as she returned to Orbeliani Palace.
