TBILISI, May 2. /TASS/. Crowds protesting against the foreign agents bill have completely blocked traffic via Heroes’ Square, a vital intersection in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.
Groups of protestors blocked all access and exit roads leading to an elevated highway nearby, thus completely paralyzing all traffic. Road police are seen in the area, but they do not intervene.
Protestors flocked to Heroes Square on Thursday evening. They made attempts to block traffic in the area earlier, but the police were able to prevent them from doing so, and arrests were made. Another group, which was rallying against the controversial bill outside the Georgian parliament building, made the decision to move to Heroes Square and help their fellow campaigners.
On Wednesday, Georgia’s parliament passed the second reading of the bill "On the Transparency of Foreign Influence," which had been opposed by President Salome Zourabichvili, the opposition and Western diplomats, who see it as an obstacle to Georgia’s integration into the European Union. Opposition members and civil activists have been holding protest rallies in front of the parliament building in the country’s capital of Tbilisi since April 15.
In early April, the ruling Georgian Dream party announced its decision to reintroduce the bill a year after the initiative was quashed following mass protests. The bill is almost identical to last year’s, with one exception: the term "agent of foreign influence" has been replaced with "organization pursuing foreign interests.".