Riot police face off against foreign influence bill demonstrators
In Georgia, overnight protests have spilt into the morning in a last-minute bid to halt the approval of a contentious law.
Following a standoff with demonstrators outside parliament in Tbilisi, security forces withdrew from the main square on Monday morning.
The protests are aimed at blocking a controversial foreign influence bill, labelled by critics as the “Russia law”.
The bill is set for final voting on Tuesday. In a swift move on Monday morning, lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream party rushed it through a committee vote, passing it in just 67 seconds.
The bill, now heading for its third and final reading, targets civil society groups and independent media that receive foreign funding.
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Protesters fear the law could be wielded by the government to stifle dissent and jeopardise Georgia’s aspirations of EU membership.
Throughout the night, tens of thousands of demonstrators camped outside Tbilisi’s parliament building, braving the rain to voice their opposition.
As dawn broke on Monday, governing party MPs arriving for the session were met with cries of “slaves” and “Russians”.
Police units, equipped with shields and water cannons, stood guard at the building to prevent protesters from impeding lawmakers’ access.
Online images and videos depicted clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
@dgstallion Thousands of protesters marched through central Tbilisi on Saturday at a rally against a controversial “foreign influence” bill backed by the Georgian government and likened to Russian laws silencing dissent. Massive rallies have gripped the Black Sea Caucasus country for almost a month after the ruling Georgian Dream party revived the bill dropped last year because of a huge backlash. Demonstrators converged on Tbilisi’s central Europe Square on Saturday evening in the latest protest, an AFP journalist saw. Under pouring rain, protesters chanted “No to the Russian law!” and “No to the Russian dictatorship!”, waving red-and-white Georgian flags and blue EU flags in a sea of umbrellas on the large square. “We are protecting our European future and our freedom,” said one of the protesters, Mariam Meunrgia, 39, who works for a German company, adding she fears the country is going in the direction of Russia. “We don’t need to return to the Soviet Union,” said 38-year-old Georgian-language teacher Lela Tsiklauri. The European Union, the United States and the United Nations have spoken out against the legislation, with the UN human rights chief Volker Turk also voicing concern about police violence against protesters. Georgian police violently broke up a demonstration on April 30, firing tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets, and beating and arresting scores of people. The bill passed its second reading in parliament this month, ahead of parliamentary elections in October, seen as a key test of democracy in the EU-aspiring former Soviet republic. If adopted, the law would require that any independent NGO and media organization receiving more than 20% of its funding from abroad register as an “organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power.” #georgian #tbilisi #tbilisi🇬🇪 #tbilisigeorgia #tbilisigeorgia🇬🇪 #protest #protestforeigninfluencebill #protesting #russia #russia🇷🇺 #russiantiktok #georgiatiktok #tbilisitiktok #usa_tiktok #usa🇺🇸 #usa #usatiktok #unitednations #europeanunion #2024 #reportednews #newsreported #worldnews #news #🇬🇪 #🇺🇸 #🇷🇺
