TBILISI, Apr 15 Thousands of Georgians gathered on Monday before the parliament building in Tbilisi for a protest against the adoption of the law on foreign agents, the correspondent reports.
On Monday morning, the Georgian parliament began considering the bill “On Transparency of Foreign Influence”, presented by the Georgian Dream faction. The bill is first considered by the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, after which a plenary session and voting will take place to approve the bill in the first reading. Since Monday morning, a protest also took place in the courtyard of the legislative body.
Currently, a stage has been installed on Rustaveli Avenue in front of the parliament where activists perform. The rally is attended by representatives of non-governmental organizations, artists, politicians, students and ordinary citizens.
Previously, the ruling Georgian Dream party reintroduced to parliament a bill on foreign agents, which caused mass unrest in March last year. In the bill entitled “On the Transparency of Foreign Influence,” instead of the term “agent of foreign influence,” the term “organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power” is used; the rest of the content of the bill remains the same. Frequent protests have already begun in Tbilisi demanding the withdrawal of the bill. The opposition claims that the bill is an analogue of the Russian one.
On March 7, 2023, the Parliament of Georgia adopted the bill on foreign agents in the first reading. After this, mass protests began in Tbilisi, which were dispersed by police using tear gas and water cannons. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 133 people were detained. Later, the Georgian authorities withdrew the bill from parliament.