Georgians say that they do not want Russia to come to Georgia.
In Georgia, the security forces did not risk dispersing a protest of several thousand that night. People gathered outside the parliament after the party in power passed the first reading of the law on foreign agents, which is copied verbatim from Russian. The President of Georgia promised to promise it, but the party in power will have enough votes to overcome the veto.
This is stated in the story of TSN correspondent Yana Slesarchuk.
Why are people protesting in Georgia?
The law on foreign agents was passed in the first reading in the Georgian parliament a year ago. Then it caused a strong protest, which for two days they tried to dispel by force, but later the draft law was withdrawn from consideration. Second attempt, first reading, thousands – on the street. The former head of the Georgian Central Bank, Iraklii Kadagidze, explains what is happening simply: “Georgia is captured by an oligarch. All the power is in the hands of one person – Bidzina Ivanishvili and his close circle. For him, the movement towards the European Union is a threat.”
The “Georgian Dream” party, which has a majority in the parliament, is Ivanishvili’s party. The only thing that has changed over the year in the text of the draft law is that the wording “agent of foreign influence” has been replaced by the term “organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power”. It obliges non-governmental companies and media that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as organizations pursuing the interests of a foreign power. In Russia, this law was used to suppress independent media and opposition politicians.
“We are all here against the Russian law. We do not want our country to adopt such laws about foreign agents, it outrages everyone. We do not want Georgia to follow the Russian path, because in Russia no one can speak what they think, they are even arrested for placards without texts. This should not happen in our country,” says the protester.
The capital of Georgia was engulfed in protests due to the scandalous draft law / Photo: Associated Press
The position of the authorities
Georgian Prime Minister Iraklii Kobakhidze demonstrates absolute misunderstanding of the general indignation.
“It’s a pity that the Americans did not have a single conscious argument. None, I repeat. Have you seen these statements, say Stoltenberg or Scholz? They said that the law contradicts European values - and what part? Why? Zero arguments. So we will not review our decision,” he says.
What does the opposition say?
Opposition deputy Aleksnadr Elisashvili, the same one who, during the consideration of the law on foreign agents in the parliament, when other arguments were exhausted, simply knocked the opponent out of the podium, says: Russian orders have no place in Georgia, and they will explain this to the Georgian deputies on the street.
“The Georgian Dream party single-handedly decided that Russia should come to Georgia. These 83 traitors believe that Georgia should be subject to Russia. But other Georgians will explain to them a very simple thing written in our Constitution. The Constitution says: the people have power, not treacherous government,” he stressed.
Attempts to disperse the protest
The actions of Georgian security forces on the night of Wednesday resembled the brutal attempts to disperse protesters last year. People were pushed away from the crowd and beaten, almost unashamed of cameras and numerous phones.
However, already this night, when there were ten times more demonstrators, the security forces did not risk provoking them. There were only two arrests during the whole night.
Protests in Tbilisi against the law on foreign agents / Photo: Associated Press
▶ On the TSN YouTube channel, you can watch the video at this link: News of TSN 20:00 for April 19, 2024 | Ukraine news
It will be recalled that mass protests broke out in Georgia against the scandalous draft law on “Transparency of Foreign Influence”. The document provides for the emergence of a register of so-called foreign agents – non-commercial legal organizations and media that are financed from abroad by more than 20%.
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