Georgian police riot squads attacked and dispersed last night demonstrators who gathered yesterday around the former Soviet republic's parliament building. This happened while the MPs were considering a bill on "foreign agents", described by the opposition as authoritarian, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
About 10,000 people gathered outside the legislature building for the second day in a row to protest the bill, which was passed by a parliamentary committee on Monday. Last night's rally was bigger than the one the day before.
Police officers, some of whom were armed with rifles, ordered the demonstrators to disperse and used a crowd control substance that looked like pepper spray against them.
Groups of demonstrators began to leave the area running, and within minutes the area behind the parliament building was completely cleared of protesters. However, many of the participants in the rally did not leave and remained on the other approaches to the building.
Those who dispersed regrouped with other protesters on one of Tbilisi's main thoroughfares, Rustaveli Boulevard.
The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that a police officer was injured in the clashes. Eleven demonstrators were detained.
The bill, against which the protests were organized, provides for organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to be registered as agents of foreign influence. Most likely, the law will be passed by the parliament, which is dominated by the ruling party "Georgian Dream". and its allies.
According to opponents of the bill, it will harm Georgia's bid to join the EU.