Tbilisi, March 8, (dpa/GNA) – Security forces again used force against demonstrators, during anti-government protests in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Wednesday evening.
According to eyewitnesses, the demonstrators surrounded the parliament of the South Caucasus republic; Some also tried to enter the building.
In response, the strong police forces used tear gas and water cannon, as they had done the previous evening, pictures from Russian and Georgian news agencies and television stations showed.
Observers estimated the number of demonstrators at between 10,000 and 15,000, more than on Tuesday evening.
The protest came a day after police in the capital of Georgia, used tear gas and water cannon on Tuesday night to break up demonstrations against the law. Sixty-six people were arrested.
The protest is directed against a draft law, similar to legislation in Russia, that would classify non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media outlets that are partly funded from abroad as “foreign agents.”
The proposal officially targets the disclosure of money flows from abroad, but protesters fear the provision is intended to harass government critics, and crack down on the opposition in the former Soviet republic.
The governing Georgia Dream party introduced the bill. It won preliminary approval from parliament on Tuesday.
Many women and students joined the demonstrations on Wednesday, which was International Women’s Day. Opposition politician Levan Khabeishvili called for the protests to continue daily until the government withdraws the proposal.
On Tuesday evening, Salome Zourabichvili, the president of Georgia, had addressed demonstrators to offer her support and said she would veto the law if it was passed by parliament.
Protesters and civil rights activists worry that adoption of the law will undermine Georgia’s democracy and dim the country’s chances of joining the European Union, which has criticized the law.
A similar law in Russia has been used for years to bully the opposition, and shut down independent organizations critical of the government.
The foreign ministers of the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all of whom were under control of the Soviet Union during the Cold War years, expressed concern in a joint statement on Wednesday about the draft law.
“We call on the Parliament of Georgia to responsibly assess the real interests of the country and refrain from decisions that may undermine aspirations of Georgia’s people to live in a democratic country which is advancing towards the EU and NATO,” wrote the chief diplomats of the three countries, which are members of both organizations.
At the same time, they called on the Georgian government to respect the people’s right to peaceful protest.
Estonia also summoned the Georgian ambassador to Tallinn, to express displeasure with the bill, which Estonia described as “a clear contradiction” of Georgia’s previous commitment to European integration.
GNA