Protests have smashed barriers at Georgia’s parliament after it approved the divisive “foreign agents” bill.
The legislation is seen by some as threatening press and civic freedoms and there are concerns it’s modelled on laws used by President Vladimir Putin in neighbouring Russia.
The proposed law would require media and nongovernmental organisations and other non-profit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of funding from abroad.
Demonstrations engulfed the country for weeks ahead of the final reading of the bill on Tuesday.
A protester wearing a Georgian and European flag faces off policemen blocking a street during a rally against the ‘foreign agents bill’. Pic: David Mdzinarishvili/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Critics see it as a threat to democratic freedoms and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.
The bill is nearly identical to one that the governing Georgian Dream party was pressured to withdraw last year after street protests.
Demonstrators gather at the fence protecting the gates of the parliament building during a protest against a divisive bill. Pic: Reuters
The opposition has denounced it as “the Russian law” because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatise independent news media and organisations critical of the Kremlin.
Opponents say the bill is a sign of Moscow’s apparent influence over Georgia and will make joining the EU harder.
A brawl erupted in the parliament as lawmakers were debating the bill on Tuesday.
Georgian Dream MP Dimitry Samkharadze was seen charging toward Levan Khabeishvili, the chairman of main opposition party United National Movement, after Khabeishvili accused him of organising mobs to beat up opposition supporters.
The bill is ‘absolutely insane’, one protester said
Police try to detain demonstrators near the Parliament building during an opposition protest on Monday. Pic: AP
‘Absolutely insane’
A protester told Sky News’ Dominic Waghorn it is “absolutely insane that a country like Georgia has accepted this bill as it’s a complete violation for our future”.
The medical student said the bill “makes us more far away from Europe and the rest of the world”, while bringing Georgia closer to the Russian government.
Another protester outside parliament in the capital city of Tbilisi said: “Our government is a Russian government, we don’t want Russia, Russia is never the way, I’m Georgian and therefore I am European.”
One demonstrator added they had been trying to protest “peacefully” but were now “feeling anger, pain and disappointment that again in our history there is a government that goes against our wishes”.
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