Thousands of demonstrators returned to the streets of Tbilisi this Wednesday for the second consecutive day of protests against a new law on “foreign agents” identical to the one already passed in Russia to silence critics of the regime.
Approved this Wednesday in the first vote in parliament, the law will include in the category of “foreign agents” NGOs and media groups that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s party says it only wants to increase transparency and claims it was inspired by a US law from the 1930s. Interestingly, when Putin introduced a similar law in Russia, he also used the US inspiration argument from the 1930s years. .
Georgia’s pro-European President Salome Zurabishvili has threatened to veto a law she considers unconstitutional.
On Tuesday night, police arrested 66 people, including opposition leader Zurab Japaridze, who was reportedly seriously injured during his arrest. More arrests were made this Wednesday after more than 15,000 people demonstrated in front of parliament in an attempt to stop the passage of the law and denounce Russia’s interference.
Author: Francisco J. Gonçalves
Source: CM Jornal
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