Emergency is declared as protests shake Georgia

Police moved in to close a small Tbilisi television station, Kavkasia TV. They also closed Imedi TV, which is managed by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and one of the leading disseminators of opposition news. Imedi TV is owned by Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, who has been funding Saakashvili's opponents, though there have been recent reports that he was handing control to News Corp.

The channel was broadcasting news of the day's turmoil as police entered the building.

"Here they are, coming into the studio," the anchor announced. "I hear shouts from the control room. I hope our employees won't be injured. Here are our guests."

The signal then stopped.

The state of emergency appears to place strict limits on the broadcast of news by non-government radio and television stations.

Saakashvili, a U.S.-educated lawyer, came to power after tens of thousands of citizens occupied the streets in 2003 in a peaceful protest against the government of former President Eduard A. Shevardnadze. Saakashvili has since charted a course toward the West, aiming Georgia for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, while engaging in increasing hostility with Russia.

Opposition parties are seeking to reverse a constitutional amendment adopted by the parliament postponing until October parliamentary elections scheduled for next spring.

"Frankly, we didn't expect Saakashvili to crack down on us the way he did. It is a big, big mistake he is going to regret pretty soon, if not already," Zviad Dzidziguri, leader of the Conservative Party, said in a telephone interview.

Witnesses said the crackdown began when the crowd assembled Wednesday became so large that it blocked traffic on the main thoroughfare.

"We started to move on the road. At this moment, policemen took out their truncheons and all of a sudden started beating people," said Giorgy Abashishvili, a representative of the Young Republican Institute, who had joined the protesters.

A nearby pharmacy started handing out face masks, one witness said.

"I was standing on the edge of the demonstration when they started shooting. They threw gas bullets in the church and the theatrical institute," said Ekaterine Zedginidze, 26. "I could not breathe. I live on this street and have two children. Why are they doing this?"

Film director Georgy Khaindrava, a major figure in the opposition, was among those briefly arrested. He said police also used rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters.

"The last time gas and bullets were used against a peaceful demonstration in Tbilisi was April 9, 1989, and the brutal attack then was carried out by Soviet troops," Khaindrava said. "After that, Georgia became a different country, and eventually gained its independence."

The crackdown on an anti-Soviet demonstration, now commemorated as an annual Day of National Unity, resulted in 20 deaths and scores of injuries.

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kim.murphy@latimes.com

Times staff writer Sergei L. Loiko in Moscow and special correspondent Tiko Ninua in Tbilisi contributed to this report.