Georgia police crack down on protest against ‘foreign influence’ bill

The crackdown in Tbilisi comes after lawmakers debated a controversial bill on foreign funding.

Police in Georgia have used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters as thousands rallied outside parliament in Tbilisi for a third week to oppose a controversial “foreign influence” bill.

Masked riot police violently cracked down on the rally on Tuesday beating and arresting many people protesting against the bill, which Brussels has denounced as undermining Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union.

Lawmakers earlier debated the controversial legislation, which would require organisations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents”.

The parliamentary session ended without a vote and the debate was set to resume on Wednesday.

The proposed legislation has deepened divisions between the governing Georgian Dream party and the protest movement backed by opposition groups, civil society, celebrities and Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili.