GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE / AFP
Protesters waving Georgian flags outside parliament during a rally against a controversial “foreign influence” bill, which Brussels says would undermine the Caucasus country’s European aspirations, in Tbilisi on 1 May 2024.
GEORGIA – The situation has been particularly tense around the Parliament in Georgia, in Tbilisi, in recent hours. The Georgian authorities announced this Wednesday, May 1, the arrest of 63 pro-European demonstrators during a nighttime rally held the day before, violently repressed by the police, against a bill on “foreign influence” which its critics say is similar to Russian legislation used against the opposition.
The Caucasus country has been plagued by anti-government protests since April 9, after the ruling Georgian Dream party reintroduced the bill seen as contrary to Tbilisi’s aspirations to join the European Union (EU).
During the violence on Tuesday evening, MP Levan Khabeishvili, president of the United National Movement of imprisoned ex-president Mikheïl Saakashvili, the main opposition party, was violently beaten and had to receive treatment. Local television channels broadcast images showing his face marked with beatings, before he himself https://twitter.com/LKhabeishvili/status/1785421942968762577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1785421942968762577%7Ctwgr%5E518bac8861652c4c51df9fefc1882469e7ae4363%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fhuffpost.sirius.press%2Fapi%2Fsnippets%2F211660%2Fpreview. ” Look at me ! What you see, these traces on my body, these are the traces of Russia”he said during a session in Parliament this Wednesday morning, his face swollen, bandages on his nose and on his hand.
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The Interior Ministry assured that the police had used force in a manner ” legitimate “ because the demonstration was “became violent” and indicated that 63 people had been arrested for having “disobeyed the police” and committed acts of vandalism.
Georgian Rights Defender Levan Iosseliani has called for an investigation into the use of a “disproportionate force” against demonstrators and journalists.
Barricades in front of the Parliament building
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, opposed to the ruling party, condemned the “repression of peaceful assembly” and the“use of disproportionate force”.
For his part, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, “firmly condemned” Wednesday “violence” law enforcement, calling on the authorities to “guarantee the right to peaceful assembly”.
The protesters blocked traffic in front of the Parliament on the main artery of Tbilisi, as well as on several other important roads.
Early Wednesday morning, protesters erected barricades in front of the Parliament building after riot police left. Around 10 a.m., the demonstration ended, but resumed in the evening, with tens of thousands of people gathered.
Georgian MPs debated on Tuesday the second reading of the bill that the ruling party hopes to pass by mid-May. The text must undergo three readings in Parliament and be ratified by the presidency. The Georgian president is expected to veto, but the ruling party has enough seats in parliament to override it.
According to its critics, the project imitates the Russian law on “foreign agents” used to stifle dissenting voices.
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