Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Georgia’s capital for a second day to rally against a “foreign agents” law that critics say would limit press freedom and undercut the country’s efforts to become a candidate for EU membership.
On Tuesday night demonstrators and riot police clashed in Tbilisi after Georgia’s parliament passed the first reading of the law, which would require some organisations receiving overseas funding to register as “foreign agents”.
Thousands of protesters carrying Georgian, EU and Ukrainian flags gathered outside the parliament building and shouted “No to the Russian law” and “You are Russian” at politicians inside the legislature.
Riot police in helmets used teargas against the crowd and fired water cannon to push the protesters away from the parliament. Some demonstrators threw petrol bombs and stones at the police.
On Wednesday at least 2,000 demonstrators marched through Tbilisi, blocking the city’s central Rustaveli Avenue, after a call from the main opposition party, the United National Movement, to gather there.
“Every day will be like that,” said the opposition leader Nika Melia. “No matter how many times they disperse us, no matter how much gas they use, we will gather again and again, and there should be more and more of us.”
Georgia’s political opposition and civil society groups urged protesters to gather outside parliament again on Wednesday evening.
The law, backed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, would require any organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as “foreign agents” or face substantial fines. Critics have said the bill mirrors a 2012 law in Russia that has since been used to crack down on dissent and suppress western-funded NGOs and media.
The EU is currently considering Georgia’s application for candidate status, and several senior EU officials have condemned the proposed bill.
“Adoption of this ‘foreign influence’ law is not compatible with the EU path, which the majority in Georgia wants,” European Council president, Charles Michel, said in a tweet on Wednesday.
Otar Berov, a Georgian sports commentator who attended the rally on Tuesday, said he was planning to continue to protest for “as long as it takes”.
“The law is against its own people. They are trying to cut us from the west and force us closer to Russia. But our future is not with Russia; that is clear,” Berov told the Guardian.
According to the latest polls, 85% of Georgians support EU membership.
Georgia’s president, Salome Zourabichvili, said on Tuesday evening that she intended to veto the law if it crossed her desk. However, the parliament could override her veto. She expressed solidarity with the protesters on Tuesday. “You represent a free Georgia, a Georgia which sees its future in the west, and won’t let anyone take this future away,” she said in an address recorded in the US, where she is on an official visit.
“Nobody needs this law … Everyone who has voted for this law has violated the constitution,” she said.
But Irakli Garibashvili, the Georgian prime minister, reiterated on Tuesday that he supported the law. He accused the opposition of being “destructive and radical”.
The Georgian Dream party has been the ruling party in Georgia since 2012. The party’s founder, the eccentric Russian-connected billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, is widely believed to exert control over the country from the shadows.
While the Georgian Dream has won elections on a pro-western platform, critics say Ivanishvili is pushing Georgia towards Moscow’s orbit, and that despite overwhelming support for Ukraine in the country, the government has not joined the west in imposing sanctions on Russia.
“The foreign agent law is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Berov. “It has ignited longstanding anger about the government’s absurd pro-Russian stance.”
Reuters contributed reporting
