Opposition politicians who have orchestrated the recent days' violence while hiding in their offices will not get away, thunders Irakli Kobachidze at a press conference.
Shortly before, Georgia's highest court had rejected the opposition's attempt to annul the autumn's disputed parliamentary election – one of the components that triggered the mass protests.
"Georgia's Constitutional Court does not accept the appeal submitted by the President and political parties to declare the election on October 26 unconstitutional", it says in a statement from the court.
Many injured
Earlier, riot police had again used tear gas and water cannons to drive away thousands of activists who had gathered, among other places, outside the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi.
Several of them threw stones and fired fireworks at the police, waving Georgian flags and EU flags. More than 25 people, mostly demonstrators, are reported to have been injured in the latest 24 hours of protests.
It was the fifth night in a row that the demonstrators gathered. Since Thursday, they have been shouting out their disgust at the announcement from Kobachidze's new government that all talks about EU membership will be frozen until 2028.
Alleging electoral fraud
The activists have also demanded that the autumn election be re-held. Georgia went to the polls on October 26, but the result has not been recognized by the EU Parliament or the opposition, which alleges electoral fraud. According to the official result, the ruling party Georgian Dream, to which Irakli Kobachidze belongs, got 89 of the parliament's 150 seats.
Georgia's President Salomé Zourabichvili is pro-West and EU-friendly and has expressed support for the demonstrators in recent days.
