Irakli Pipia is one of many protesters who say they have been beaten in Georgia's massive pro-EU demonstrations, in a political crisis that shows no sign of abating. Police have arrested more than 400 people, with most reporting physical abuse, according to the Social Justice Centre NGO, which provides legal counselling to those affected. Tens of thousands have rallied for over a week in Tbilisi, infuriated by the government's decision to shelve EU accession talks and accusing it of steering Georgia towards the Kremlin.
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00:00cheered him up just a little bit to...
00:10Approximately 10 persons surrounded me
00:15and one of them started beating and cursing heavily
00:20and he started to, you know, go through my pockets
00:26without asking, of course.
00:28I was there and there, so...
00:31But it's a minute before, but...
00:34I just took out the cutter and...
00:40The usual beating happened to the face.
01:00I think the goal here was to be as visually damaging as possible.
01:07And then beating happened to the sides,
01:14because it's the most vulnerable place for the ribs to be broken.
01:18And then, when I was taken inside the minibus,
01:24then you just, I don't know, you just fall down
01:27after beating, after beating on the floor
01:30and they just come and kick you with their feet wherever it falls.
01:37Don't beat him!
01:52Current political ruling party is trying to scare honest citizens
02:02not to come out and protest anymore.
02:06And I would say someone has done a very bad job
02:13in learning Georgian people and Georgian culture and identity and character,
02:20because the more you beat us, the more stricter or more resilient we become.
02:36For more information, please visit www.fema.gov