Local media in Georgia reported that police carried out raids targeting the offices of several opposition groups and non-governmental organizations.

Georgian police have raided the offices of an opposition party and arrested its leader in an apparent attempt to squelch a wave of mass protests over the decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union.

A leader of one of Georgia’s opposition parties has been detained by police after he was beaten unconscious by officers in the capital Tbilisi, his party said Wednesday, in the wake of fierce protests in the former Soviet republic.