Thousands of people gathered outside the Georgian parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi, who disagreed with the passing of the Foreign Agents Law, which MPs approved in first reading on March 7. The action is attended by public figures, representatives of non-governmental organizations and ordinary citizens, informed Sputnik Georgia.
Police called on the crowd to disperse, but protesters did not respond to the call and stayed put.
“Any violations of the law will be immediately stopped by the police within the framework of the law. If participants do not obey the lawful order of the police and resist law enforcement officers, the police will use force provided by law, including special means,” declared at the Georgia Department of Interior.
By information Sputnik Georgia, special forces were mobilized to disperse the demonstrators. After some of the protesters attempted to approach the back entrance of the building with flags, Georgian Interior Ministry special forces blocked access it, and the deputies begin clear out. The police then used against the demonstrators water cannons , pepper spray And tear gas reports the agency concerned render the help of the ambulance.
How writing local blogger Nikolai Levshits said gunshots or the sound of a stun grenade were also heard near the Georgian parliament building.
Newly elected Georgia Public Defender Levan Ioseliani urged the police not to go beyond the limits of authority, and the participants of the action – beyond the limits of the law. The Ombudsman noted that the proportionate use of special means should be used to achieve the objective within the framework of necessity.
“The type of means of coercion and their intensity must be determined according to the specific situation, the type of offense and the individual characteristics of the offense. It is important that law enforcement tries to ensure that the damage caused is minimal and prompt,” he said in a statement.
By information portal “Georgia.Online”, at the same time, in the parliament building at the office of the speaker of the legislative body Shalva Papuashvili, opposition deputies Khatuna Samnidze, Anna Natsvlishvili and Salome Samadashvili demand a meeting with him, in particular, to discuss the dispersal of protesters. However, the guards did not allow the deputies to visit Papuashvili, after which a verbal skirmish ensued.
“I appeal to the defender of the rules: according to the rules, deputies have the right to demand a meeting with the speaker of parliament, and he must do so immediately. I wonder where he is and what he’s doing, that he’s not breaking the rules, it turns out. Let him not be afraid of us, we will not eat each other,” Natsvlishvili said.
76 deputies of the Georgian parliament voted for the adoption of the draft law on foreign agents, against 13. The document under consideration concerns the registration of legal persons and foreign-funded media. In Georgia, it is compared with the similar Russian law. The United States and the European Union opposed adopting the document. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili told reporters she would veto the law if lawmakers approved it.
In response to criticism, one of the initiators of the bill, Mikheil Kavelashvili, said Georgia’s EU membership is not an end in itself. At the same time, the Georgian Constitution stipulates that EU and NATO membership is an obligation of the authorities. Zurabishvili replied that all political parties that oppose the constitutional principles and European integration chosen by the country should be banned.
