Early in the morning on May 1, special forces retreated from a crowd of protesters in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, ceasing to use tear gas against them. This allowed the participants of the action to return to the parliament building to continue the rally against the controversial law on "foreign agents".
This is reported by Echo Kavkazu.
The evening before, on April 30, the second reading of the controversial bill on "foreign influence" began, and with it, a protest against this law.
The protesters gathered at the exits of the building, they wanted to meet the deputies who support the document with a "corridor of shame". Police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to push back hundreds of people. Throughout the evening and night, law enforcement officers detained protesters in front of the parliament. Some were beaten. There are victims and detainees.
The head of the opposition party "United National Movement", member of the Parliament of Georgia Levan Khabeishvili was hospitalized. According to Echo Kavkazu, the politician was injured during clashes with the police — he had a knocked out tooth and confirmed fractures of the facial bones. Khabeishvili believes that the attack on him was "revenge" by the head of the special department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia Zviad Kharazishvili and the order was allegedly given to him by the head of the ruling party "Georgian Dream" Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Khabeishvili recorded a video message from the hospital in which he talked about the attack by security forces and showed the consequences.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili called on the Minister of Internal Affairs to stop the crackdown on the peaceful demonstration. The Ministry of Internal Affairs excuses itself that the action allegedly "went beyond the scope of the law, and the protesters did not obey the demands of the law enforcement officers." As of 05:00, the special forces retreated, and people returned to the Georgian parliament building to continue the protest.
The second reading of the draft law may last several days — yesterday the deputies managed to finish the discussion of only three articles of the draft law, which consists of 11 points.
In order for the parliament to pass the draft law, it must be supported in three readings. The parliament set May 17 as the tentative date for the third reading of the draft law.
- 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 voting 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 received the status of a candidate for EU membership.