TBILISI -- Georgian civil activist Zuka Berdzenishvili says he was attacked outside his home by three unknown assailants after parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili publicly accused him and other activists of "politically motivated terror" for criticizing lawmakers.
Berdzenishvili, the son of opposition Republican Party member Davit Berdzenishvili, said in a Facebook post on June 11 that he suffered head and facial injuries when he was attacked from behind.
Berdzenishvili had previously reported attempted attacks on him, but said he had evaded assault in those incidents.
The Georgian Interior Ministry told RFE/RL that an investigation had been launched into the attack.
The incident occurred shortly after Papuashvili in a Facebook posting accused citizens who protested against the government of engaging in "politically motivated terror" sponsored by the European Union.
SEE ALSO: Smear Campaign On Social Media Aims To Discredit Georgian ProtestsOpponents of Georgia’s "foreign-agent" law approved on June 3 have accused the Georgian Dream-led government and roving groups of masked thugs of targeting protesters and activists over the past several months.
Western governments have condemned the South Caucasus country's government for passing the law, which they say mirrors legislation used by the Kremlin to silence critics in Russia. The Georgian government claims the law is needed to assure transparency in political matters.
The United States on June 7 imposed visa restrictions against dozens of Georgian officials over adoption of the law, which sparked weeks of mass protests and warnings from the West that it would derail Georgia from its Euro-Atlantic path.
Georgia's pro-Western president, Salome Zurabishvili, refused to endorse the measure after it was sent to her. On May 28, lawmakers overrode her veto by an 84-4 vote, leading to its passage in parliament.
The law requires civil-society and media organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign sources to submit to oversight that could encompass sanctions for as-yet-undefined criminal offenses.
Shortly after the law took effect, Georgian Dream General Secretary Kakha Kaladze, who is also the mayor of the capital, Tbilisi, said that once the law was published, organizations that receive funding from abroad and do not register in a database that the law provides for will be fined and their assets will be seized.