Protests continue against the draft law on "foreign agents" in Georgia

2024-05-08 11:14:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Protests against the so-called "foreign agents" bill, which is expected to pass the final reading in the Georgian Parliament, have continued in the Georgian capital.

Georgian citizens marched in the capital on the evening of May 7 in protest against the Government's decisions to introduce legislation that risks damaging Tbilisi's relations with the West.

They marched from the Parliament building towards the headquarters of the ruling Georgian Dream party, where they were confronted by a police cordon.

Some of them carried EU and Georgian flags. No violence was reported.

In the now weekly protests against what critics call the "Russian law", there have sometimes been harsh police actions to disperse the crowds. It is reported that there was the use of rubber bullets, arrests and gangs attacking the demonstrators.

One of the organizers of the latest protest, Zviad Tsetskhladze, said that opponents of the bill have created a group that will try to provide financial support to individuals who are fired from their jobs in the public sector due to opposition to the bill.

Tens of thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets of Tbilisi and other cities in protests that have met with a heavy-handed police response, including chemical spray and tear gas, water cannons, and allegedly rubber bullets.

The draft law forces media and non-governmental and non-profit organizations to register as "followers of the interests of a foreign power" if more than 20 percent of their income comes from abroad. The government insists that the law will be in line with EU standards and that its sole purpose is to increase "transparency" and prevent "harmful foreign influence" on the country's political scene.

The bill is expected to be voted on for the third and final reading by May 13.

Georgian Dream and its allies appear to have enough votes to pass the bill and possibly even override the veto that President Salome Zourabichvili has vowed to use.

EU leaders have said the implementation of the law will affect Georgia's hopes of joining the bloc. The draft law has also been condemned by the USA, which has been the biggest supporter of the former Soviet republic in recent years./ Rel