TBILISI –- Security forces and police have used tear gas and water cannons to break up a second straight day of demonstrations in the Georgian capital against parliament’s move toward approving a controversial "foreign agents" law that critics say mirrors Russian legislation and could push the country toward authoritarianism.
The renewed protests on March 8, called for by opposition parties and activists, brought thousands of demonstrators onto the streets and followed violent clashes between police and protesters the previous day that resulted in dozens of detentions and injuries.
Security forces and police assembled on Tbilisi’s central Freedom Square and began marching toward the heart of the demonstration in front of the parliament building, where participants carried Georgian and EU flags and chanted against the law that has drawn sharp criticism from the West.
The security forces used tear gas, stun grenades, and water cannons to disperse the crowd, correspondents for RFE/RL’s Georgian Service reported from the scene, and many demonstrators ran for cover in a nearby church and museum or ran down smaller streets to escape.
There were reportedly no signs of demonstrators hurling Molotov cocktails or stones at security forces, as was claimed by the Interior Ministry following the March 7 demonstrations.
Security forces also used force to disperse those demonstrations, which the Interior Ministry later said resulted in the detention of 77 people and left about 50 police officers injured. The ministry did not say how many protesters were injured. Those detained face charges of minor hooliganism and failing to obey the demands of law enforcement officers.
Firebombs, Tear Gas In Tbilisi As 'Foreign Agents' Protest Turns Violent
The initial protests erupted as lawmakers took up the controversial "foreign agents" law on March 7. The proposed legislation, which is backed by the ruling Georgian Dream party and was approved in a first reading, would force civil society organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to be classified as "foreign agents."
Some have likened the bill to legislation passed in Russia, where all organizations or individuals receiving financial support from abroad can be declared as "foreign agents," a label that stigmatizes them and forces them to submit to audits. Later revisions of the law targeted foreign-funded media.
Protesters at the March 8 demonstrations were heard chanting "No to the Russian law" and singing the Georgian, Ukrainian, and EU anthems. One banner held during the renewed protests, which took place on International Women’s Day, said: "Women against total control."
The second straight day of protests was called for by Nika Melia, one of the leaders of the main opposition United National Movement (ENM), and rights groups had also planned to hold further actions outside of parliament later in the day.
Social media footage also showed smaller protests held in Georgia’s second-largest city, Batumi.
The leader of the right-wing, libertarian Girchi party, Zurab Japaridze, was among those detained on March 7 and was severely beaten by police, according to his lawyer, Vakho Barabashvili.
President Salome Zurabishvili has said she will veto the bill, although parliament can override her veto.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price called for restraint from both sides on March 8, telling reporters that “we urge the government of Georgia to respect the freedom of peaceful assembly and peaceful protests.”
"We are standing with the people of Georgia and the aspirations that they have," Price said.
In a joint statement on March 8, the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania called on the Georgian government "to respect the right of people to a peaceful protest."
"The first reading of the law on foreign agents passed by the Georgian parliament raises serious questions about the prospects of democracy in Georgia. 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 toward the EU and NATO," the statement said.
The United States and the European Union also have criticized the legislation.