TBILISI – Thousands of people took to the streets of the Georgian capital again to protest plans by the ruling party to introduce a law that domestic critics and Western countries have said will be used to crack down on independent voices in the South Caucasus nation.
The action on April 28 was a continuation of two weeks of rallies led by opposition parties and activist groups against the parliament’s advancement of a so-called “foreign agents” bill that critics say mirrors one used by the Kremlin to silence critics in Russia.
An estimated 10,000 people gathered in Republic Square in central Tbilisi into the night on April 28, with many singing Georgian and European Union anthems and holding EU banners.
Reports near midnight said that some protesters had broken through security lines near the parliament building, leading police to use tear gas and pepper spray to disperse crowds.
Witnesses said police were moving in heavier equipment around protest sites in Republic Square and near the parliament.
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on April 26 warned in a letter to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze that the nation’s plan to reintroduce a "Russian-style foreign agents law" could lead to a change in U.S. policy toward Tbilisi.
SEE ALSO: U.S. Senators Warn Tbilisi That 'Foreign Agents' Law Could Disrupt RelationsIn the letter -- obtained by Voice of America (VOA) -- the senators said they are “increasingly concerned that Georgia’s transatlantic aspirations are being undermined.”
EU officials have said that if Georgia adopts the bill as law, it would disrupt the nation’s membership hopes.
The ruling Georgian Dream party introduced the legislation in 2023 but was forced to withdraw it following mass protests. The party’s parliamentary group brought the law back with minor wording changes and passed its first reading on April 17.
The final reading of the bill is scheduled to be debated on May 17. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili told the BBC she will veto it if it’s approved in its final reading.
Zurabishvili said her major concern is the fact that the bill is "exactly a copy of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's law."
However, Zurabishvili said the ruling Georgian Dream party has enough lawmakers to override her if she does use her veto.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, leader of the parliamentary faction of Georgian Dream, earlier this month said the party planned to reintroduce the bill, which would oblige noncommercial organizations and media outlets that receive foreign funding and who are engaged in broadly defined "political" activities to report their activities to the authorities.
It would also introduce wide oversight powers by the authorities and potential criminal sanctions for undefined criminal offenses.
Former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, chairman of Georgia Dream, and other party leaders say the legislation is intended to increase transparency in the country’s political environment.