The protest of thousands of demonstrators in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, ended on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday with a violent intervention by the police and dozens of arrests. The meetings had been called by the opposition, which is opposed to a bill on “foreign influence” being discussed by Parliament. They claim that it is a copy of the legislation that Russia has been using for years against critical voices and that it will end up separating this former Soviet republic of the Caucasus from its European aspirations.
Georgia’s Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Darajvelidze said yesterday that 63 people were arrested for petty vandalism and disobeying police. Six officers were injured, he said.
The action took place on the central Rustaveli Avenue, where the Parliament building is located. The Ambebi media reported that riot police used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up the protest. Leván Jabeishvili, leader of the main opposition party, the United National Movement, was severely beaten.
The high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, yesterday “strongly” condemned the “unacceptable” use of force. The protests began after on April 9 the ruling party, Georgian Dream, proposed for the second time a law that it already withdrew in 2023 due to the protests.
The opposition sees the new regulation as contrary to Tbilisi’s aspirations to join the EU, considering it a copy of Russia’s “foreign agents” law. The Kremlin has denied that this bill is “Russian.” According to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the text is not compatible with Georgia’s desire to join the EU.
The law could be approved this month. The president of Georgia, Salomé Zurabishvili, opposed to the Government, says that she will veto it. But Georgian Dream has enough of a majority to override her veto, Prime Minister Irakli Kobajidze has recalled.
