The peaceful demonstration had just begun when the crackdown began, - this is what the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, said in a social media post responding to the events taking place at today's protest.

The President assesses this as a "worrying escalation".

"A worrying escalation is observed tonight. The peaceful demonstration had just begun when the crackdown began. This is an attack on freedom of expression and the right to protest - fundamental rights are violated, not to mention the way people are being arrested and treated after their arrest," Zurabishvili wrote.