Georgian Security Forces Turn on “Foreign Agents” Bill Protesters

Georgian security forces utilised water cannons, tear gas, and stun grenades to disperse protesters outside parliament late on Tuesday, marking a significant escalation in the response following deliberations on a “foreign agents” bill.

This legislation, perceived by the opposition and Western nations as authoritarian and heavily influenced by Russian ideals, spurred the crackdown.

Reuters eyewitnesses on the spot observed numerous instances of physical altercations between some police officers and protesters, who retaliated by throwing eggs and bottles.

Subsequently, tear gas, water cannons, and stun grenades were employed to clear the demonstrators from the vicinity of the Soviet-era parliament building.

Levan Khabeishvili.

Notably, Levan Khabeishvili, leader of Georgia’s largest opposition party, the United National Movement, was reported to have sustained injuries, including a black eye, with allegations suggesting police involvement.

Following the dispersal from parliament, approximately two thousand protesters persisted in blocking Tbilisi’s main Rustaveli Avenue, erecting barricades using cafe tables and rubbish bins.

Some demonstrators directed chants such as “Slaves” and “Russians” towards law enforcement.

Earlier, riot police resorted to pepper spray and batons to disperse protesters obstructing lawmakers’ departure from the parliament’s rear exit.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, whose authority is largely ceremonial and who opposes the government, condemned the crackdown through a social media post, denouncing it as “totally unwarranted, unprovoked, and disproportionate.”

Zourabichvili emphasised the peaceful nature of the protests.

The contentious bill has deepened existing divisions within the southern Caucasus nation, pitting the ruling Georgian Dream party against a coalition of opposition groups, civil society entities, celebrities, and the nominal head of state.

Controlled by Georgian Dream and its allies, parliament is expected to approve the bill, which necessitates two additional readings before enactment.

Tuesday’s session concluded without a vote, with the debate scheduled to resume the following day.

The proposed legislation mandates organisations receiving over 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents.”

Critics within Georgia have likened the bill to Russia’s legislation on “foreign agents,” which has been utilised to suppress dissent.

The Russian government’s support for the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has engendered animosity among many Georgians, exacerbated by the 2008 war between the two countries.

The United States, Britain, and the European Union, the latter of which granted Georgia candidate status, have voiced opposition to the bill, with EU officials warning that it could impede Georgia’s path towards integration with the bloc.

Tina Khidasheli, a former Georgian defense minister under a Georgian Dream-led government, participated in Tuesday’s protest against her former colleagues.

Expressing confidence in the demonstrators’ eventual success, she characterized the government’s actions as delaying the inevitable.

Khidasheli highlighted the persistence of the protests, which have paralyzed central Tbilisi nightly since the bill’s initial reading on April 17th.

A government-organised rally in support of the bill on Monday drew tens of thousands of attendees, many transported from provincial towns by the ruling party.

At the rally, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream, criticised the West and suggested a forthcoming crackdown on the opposition post-election.

Ivanishvili accused a “global party of war” of influencing the EU and NATO to undermine Georgian sovereignty.

He portrayed the foreign agent law as safeguarding national sovereignty and insinuated foreign intelligence control over the country’s pro-Western opposition through NGO grants.

Ivanishvili hinted at impending “harsh political and legal judgment” for the opposition, predominantly the United National Movement led by former President Mikheil Saakashvili, after the upcoming elections slated for October.