On Sunday, April 28, mass protests against the law on "foreign agents" took place in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. The action with skirmishes with the police took place outside the parliament under the slogan "Yes to Europe! No to Russian law!"
This is reported by Sova and Echo of the Caucasus.
According to the opposition, the bill repeats Russian legislation. Georgiaʼs law on foreign agents forces media and organizations with a share of foreign capital to report, and also gives the right to the Ministry of Justice to arrange inspections with subsequent fines.
The demonstrators demanded to abandon the analogue of the Russian law, which the ruling party "Georgian Dream" intends to adopt. Some of the protesters demanded the resignation of the government. Several thousand people gathered near the parliament, after which the police used pepper spray, and special forces and a water cannon were pulled into the center of Tbilisi.
Up to a dozen people were detained at the rally, including the ex-minister of European integration of Georgia Alexi Petriashvili. They are accused of petty hooliganism and disobedience to law enforcement officers. Tbilisi City Hall called the rally "unauthorized." Human rights defenders and lawyers claim that protest actions, according to Georgian laws, do not need to be coordinated.
- The draft law on "foreign agents" was registered in the parliament by the ruling Georgian Dream party on April 8, 2024. This is the second attempt to pass the law — a year ago, the vote was canceled amid large-scale protests and clashes. Now the vote is also accompanied by protests. Detentions near the parliament began on April 15, and on April 16 there were clashes with security forces.
- On April 17, the Parliament of Georgia approved in the first reading the controversial law on "foreign agents", also known as the draft law "On transparency of foreign influence".
- All international partners of Georgia call on Tbilisi to refuse to approve the draft law on "foreign agents". On April 16, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Teodoros Roussopoulos appealed to the Venice Commission to urgently provide an opinion on this draft law.
- The European Union warned that the adoption of this law could stop Georgiaʼs European integration. In December 2023, the country acquired the status of a candidate for EU membership.