The ruling Georgian Dream party and the Power of the People movement decided to withdraw the Foreign Agents Bill, which has already passed the first reading in parliament. Thus, the Georgian authorities satisfied the request of the citizens who had been protesting for two days against the adoption of the document.
“We see that the adopted bill has sparked controversy in society. The “lie machine” was able to present the bill in a negative light and mislead a certain part of the population. The bill was falsely described as “Russian law” and its adoption in the first reading was presented in the eyes of part of the public opinion as a departure from the European course”, indicates the statement of withdrawal.
The initiators of the bill promise to “better explain to the public the purpose of its adoption”. It is noted that they plan to meet the population for this, telling their fellow citizens “the whole truth about every detail of the matter”.
Thousands of rallies and marches took place outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on March 7 and 8, accompanied by clashes between protesters and police. On Thursday, the Georgian Interior Ministry reported that police arrested more than 130 people during protests on March 7-8 near the parliament building in Tbilisi.
The protests continued into the night of March 9. Protesters surrounded parliament – they were dispersed by police using tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades and sound suppression equipment. At one point, panic and stampede occurred in the repelled crowd – there are casualties.
After a violent dispersal, the demonstrators split into groups, blocked the roadway in the city center and began to build barricades. A party clung to a column and returned to the parliament building.
Protest actions also took place in other cities in Georgia. In Batumi, about a thousand people took to the streets against the law on foreign agents.
On Tuesday, March 7, the Georgian Parliament adopted in first reading the draft law “On the transparency of the financing of external influence”, also known as the “Law on foreign agents”. Of the 150 deputies, 76 voted for the adoption of the law, 13 against, and 61 others did not vote. The bill required all legal and natural persons receiving funding from abroad to register in a special register. Otherwise, offenders would face a hefty fine or a five-year jail term.
On the first day of the demonstration, 66 people were arrested. They are accused of administrative articles on petty hooliganism and resisting the police. An investigation was also opened under criminal articles for assault on police officers and damage or destruction of property.