TBILISI, May 1. /TASS/. Riot police and other Interior Ministry units started to leave Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi after making several attempts to break up a rally against a bill on foreign agents, according to a TASS reporter.
Some of the police relocated to April 9 Street, which leads to the service entrance to the Georgian parliament, while some others moved to Liberty Square.
It is not clear why the police are relocating. Some of the protesters at Rustaveli Avenue have decided to move to the parliament building.
Several thousand people gathered near Georgia’s parliament on Tuesday to protests against the bill on foreign agents as lawmakers were discussing it in the second reading. Protests evolved into clashes with the police who began to detain activists. Police used tear gas against the protesters.
According to the Georgian Health Ministry, three police officers were injured during the dispersal of the rally and taken to a hospital. According to the largest opposition party, the United National Movement, its chairman Levan Khabeishvili was severely beaten during the efforts to break up the rally.
On April 17, Georgia’s parliament approved in the first reading a bill on foreign agents. It was opposed by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, the opposition and Western diplomats, who saw it as an obstacle to the country’s integration into the European Union. Since Monday, the opposition and civil activists have been holding rallies against the bill in Tbilisi.
The ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party announced in early April that it had decided to reintroduce the bill On the Transparency of Foreign Influence to parliament. This happened a year after a similar initiative triggered mass protests, forcing the authorities to abandon the bill. Its text remains identical to last year’s, except for the term "agent of foreign influence." Instead, the term "organization promoting the interests of a foreign power" is used.