Participants of the protest in Tbilisi against the law on “foreign agents” staged a march through the streets of the capital on May 3, the Radio Liberty project reports “Echo of the Caucasus”.
They headed from the Georgian Parliament building to the office of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The march was also joined by demonstrators who were near the Paragraf hotel, where the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank is taking place.
Additional police forces were mobilized near the headquarters of the ruling party, after which the demonstrators decided to continue their march and returned to Rustaveli Avenue.
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Participants of the march chant: “Georgia!”, “Our way is to Europe!”, “Slaves!”.
On May 1, the Parliament of Georgia adopted the draft law “On Foreign Influence” in the second reading. 83 deputies voted for the draft law, which its opponents call similar to the Russian legislation on “foreign agents”, 23 against. The adoption of the document was accompanied by a fight between representatives of the pro-government majority and the opposition.
As a sign of protest against the law, large-scale rallies have been taking place in Tbilisi for several days. People gather on the central street of Tbilisi – Rustaveli avenue, in particular near the parliament building. Security forces dispersed them several times using water cannons, rubber bullets and pepper spray.
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“Georgian Dream” can approve the draft law in the final, third reading in mid-May.
On April 29, the “Georgian Dream” party held a large rally in support of the draft law near the parliament, gathering people from all over the country to the rally. Influential billionaire, ex-prime minister and founder of “Georgian Dream” Bidzina Ivanishvili, speaking at this rally, criticized the opponents of the document. He also accused foreign special services of interfering in the country’s internal affairs.
The European Union, which in December granted Georgia the status of a candidate country in the EU, said that the adoption of the law is incompatible with EU values and will destroy the country’s hopes for membership in this association.