One police officer was killed and 19 more injured as police dispersed protesters demanding the resignation of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili from central Tbilisi early on Thursday morning, a Georgian Interior Ministry official said.
Shota Utiashvili, the head of the ministry's analytical department, said the policemen was killed after he was run over by a motorized convoy of opposition leaders, who fled the scene as police began an operation to disperse the protesters.
He added that 19 more policemen, who were injured during the clashes with the protesters, are currently in hospital and are in a stable condition.
According to other reports, at least 10 people were hospitalized after the police operation.
Georgian news agency Pirveli says that several Russian journalists were detained during the clash.
The People's Assembly opposition party had permission to hold protests at Rustaveli Avenue near the parliament until Wednesday midnight, however, protesters decided to stay after that time.
After warnings to leave, the authorities ordered special task police forces to disperse the crowds.
After the police operation, the protesters changed their location and are currently gathered at Tbilisi's central Freedom Square.
Opposition protesters say that the special task police forces used "disproportional force".
Saakashvili was elected president by a landslide in 2004 after the Rose Revolution, but his popularity has waned since a series of corruption scandals in 2007 and the destructive 2008 war with Russia.
TBILISI, May 26 (RIA Novosti)
