A British man who was arrested in Georgia last week after 200,000 people took to the streets of the capital to protest against the government says he was beaten up by police who tried to frame him as a Western spy.
Daniel Travis, 28, was detained last Saturday for allegedly breaking into the parliament building, but was finally released from custody yesterday.
The ferocious protests were sparked by the government’s decision to suspend negotiations about the country joining the European Union.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze suggested the Brit was a ‘foreign instructor’ who had been tasked with orchestrating violence.
Speaking to The Times upon his release, Travis denied the Georgian leader’s claims and said he had not attended the protests.
He said he was walking home from a nearby bar when masked riot police beat him up and dragged him into parliament in an attempt to pin him as a British spy.
Once inside, he said he was interviewed by pro-government media.
‘They tried to make me look like this spy or whatever they’re trying to make me out to be’, the Briton said.
British expat Daniel Travis said he was beaten up by Georgian police who tried to frame him as a Western spy
The ferocious protests were sparked by the government’s decision to suspend negotiations about the country joining the European Union. Travis says he was walking home from a bar when he was jumped by police
People gathered to protest outside the Parliament building on December 9, 2024 over the results of last month’s parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia
‘I never tried to break into the parliament. The amount of police there, it’s impossible for anybody to break in. It’s f***ing ridiculous.
‘I’ve never worked in a government agency. I’ve always been law abiding. I don’t go to protests even in England, never mind, you know, in a country where I don’t know the language’, he said.
Travis was sentenced to 10 days in prison on public disorder charges.
Speaking of the detention centre where he was held, Travis said it was ‘very small and dirty’ and claimed he was not fed for three days.
‘I’m mentally not right with it. It’s really taken a lot from my health and, you know, it’s been pretty tough.’
Georgia plunged into a full-on civil revolt last week as countless protesters overran Tbilisi and clashed with police, following the government’s decision to shelve the EU accession bid.
The country’s parliament building was set alight by furious rioters who threw fireworks and stones, while an effigy of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the shadowy founder of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, was stuffed on a stake and set alight to whoops and cheers from the crowd.
Georgia’s prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze (pictured) claimed without evidence there was a ‘British citizen who illegally broke into the parliament building’
Protesters clash with police during a demonstration against the government’s decision to delay European Union membership talks amid a post-election crisis, outside the Georgia Parliament in Tbilisi, early on December 1, 2024
Protesters light a fire at the base of a makeshift barricade erected in a street in Tbilisi during demonstrations against the government’s decision to delay European Union membership talks amid a post-election crisis, early on December 1, 2024
Protesters holding Georgian and European flags clash with police during a demonstration against the government’s decision to delay European Union membership talks amid a post-election crisis, in Tbilisi, early on December 1, 2024
Police use tear gas to disperse Georgian opposition supporters protesting in front of the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, 30 November 2024
Police officers escort a demonstrator during a rally of opposition parties’ supporters, who protest against the new government’s decision to suspend the European Union accession talks and refuse budgetary grants until 2028, in Tbilisi, Georgia November 30, 2024
Protesters light a fire at the base of a makeshift barricade erected in a street in Tbilisi during demonstrations against the government’s decision to delay European Union membership talks
Demonstrators rally outside the parliament’s building, center left, to protest the governments’ decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024
Supporters of Georgia’s opposition parties hold a rally to protest against the government’s decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union, outside the parliament building
Fireworks were also thrown as riot police, with one video showing a lone protester taking aim at cops with a firework ‘machine gun’.
Police were accused of brutalising protesters. Witnesses reported seeing protesters in Tbilisi being chased and beaten by police as demonstrators rallied in front of the country’s parliament.
One video showed a woman lying weakly on the ground and a police officer kicked her head, before she collapsed as a second cop ran up and kicked her.
Observers could be heard screaming as they witnessed the violent scene. Officials said that 44 people were hospitalised by police-deployed water cannons and tear gas.
