Georgian opposition politician throws paint on election leader after dispute

The black paint Kirtadze threw was supposed to symbolize the black dots that opposition groups said could be seen on the back of the ballot papers, endangering their secrecy.

Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012, has moved away from an earlier pro-EU stance in the past 12 months.

It implemented a law on ‘foreign agents’ which was described by critics as a reflection of the Kremlin’s repression of civil rights organizations in Russia.

Lawsuits dismissed

On Friday, a court in Tbilisi, the country’s capital, dismissed 11 lawsuits challenging the results, saying they were “unfounded.”

The country’s pro-Western president, Salome Zurabishvili, rejected the result and accused Russia of meddling, an allegation Moscow has denied.

The European Union and the United States called for an investigation into alleged electoral ‘irregularities’, but did not reject the results outright.