By Felix Light
TBILISI (Reuters) -Georgian police arrested a prominent opposition leader early on Monday after using water cannon and tear gas to scatter anti-government protesters who rallied outside parliament for the fourth straight night.
The protests were sparked by the government's announcement last week that it was suspending talks on joining the European Union. Critics saw that as confirmation of a Russian-influenced shift away from pro-Western policies, something the ruling party denies.
The Coalition for Change, the country's largest opposition party, said in a post on X that Zurab Japaridze, one of its leaders, had been arrested by police whilst leaving the demonstration.
Footage showed Japaridze being placed in an unmarked vehicle by masked police. It was not clear if he would be charged with any offence.
The United States and the EU have voiced alarm at what they see as democratic backsliding by Georgia, a country of 3.7 million people that lies at the intersection of Europe and Asia and was once part of the Soviet Union.
Russia denies interfering in its neighbour, but former president Dmitry Medvedev warned on Sunday that Georgia was "moving rapidly along the Ukrainian path, into the dark abyss", adding: "Usually this sort of thing ends very badly."
On Sunday night, protesters gathered again in Tbilisi on the central Rustaveli Avenue. Some tossed fireworks at police, who responded with volleys of water cannon and tear gas.
"I'm here for a very simple reason, to defend my European future and the democracy of my country," one of the demonstrators, Nikoloz Miruashvili, said.
Police eventually ended the standoff by moving demonstrators away from the parliament building.
INJURY TOLL MOUNTS
Georgia's interior ministry said 21 police officers had been injured during the overnight protest, with 113 hurt since the beginning of the unrest. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused the opposition of "coordinated violence" aimed at overthrowing the constitutional order.
Dozens of protesters have also been injured since the latest demonstrations began, and the United States has condemned what it called the excessive use of police force.
President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU figure who backs the protesters, said many of those arrested had suffered head and face injuries as a result of beatings.
"This is the revolt of an entire country," she told French news group France Inter.
Hundreds of diplomats and civil servants have signed open letters protesting the decision to suspend talks with the EU and stop receiving any funds from the bloc for four years. At least four Georgian ambassadors have resigned.
Ilia Topuria, a martial arts fighter with a major following in the country, wrote in an Instagram post: "I am opposed to the decision to terminate our accession negotiations to the European Union. I am ashamed to see how the children of Georgia are treated. This is not called freedom."
Zourabichvili has called for pressure to be brought on the Constitutional Court to annul elections won by the ruling party, Georgian Dream, in October. Both the opposition and Zourabichvili say the poll was rigged.
Zourabichvili, whose powers are mainly ceremonial, says she will not leave office when her term expires this month because the parliament that will choose her successor is illegitimate.
The election commission says the vote was fair. Prime Minister Kobakhidze on Sunday said Zourabichvili was reacting emotionally to the opposition's election defeat and would have to leave the presidential palace at the end of the month.
Tension in Georgia has been building for months as the ruling party has passed laws on "foreign agents" and on curbing LGBT rights. Georgian Dream says it is acting to defend the country's sovereignty against outside interference and prevent the West from dragging it into a war with Russia.