TBILISI, May 13. /TASS/. Protesters wrapped up the latest rally against a foreign-agents bill outside the parliament building in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, according to a TASS reporter at the scene.
There were no clashes with the police during the protest, which brought together mostly college students. Activists agreed to reconvene outside the parliament at 10 a.m. on Tuesday when lawmakers will gather to consider the bill in the third and final reading.
Even though there was an announcement to end the rally, people are staying near the legislature at Rustaveli Avenue. The avenue remains closed for traffic.
The Georgian parliament's Legal Affairs Committee endorsed the third reading of the bill on foreign agents on Monday. Protesters against the bill began to gather outside the parliament the day before to prevent lawmakers from considering the document. At dawn on Monday, police pushed the protesters away from entrances to the legislature. Scuffles broke out from time to time, with 20 people detained, including one Russian national, one Moldovan national and two Americans.
On May 1, the Georgian legislature backed the second reading of the bill On Transparency of Foreign Influence which was opposed by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, the opposition and Western diplomats who regard the legislation as a hurdle to the country’s integration into the European Union. The US State Department said the bill is aimed at undermining the country's vibrant civil society. Leaders of the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party argued that the bill only serves the purpose of ensuring transparency of foreign funding provided to non-governmental organizations and news media.
Zourabichvili said she would veto the bill. Since April 15, opposition and civil activists have been holding rallies in Tbilisi against the legislation. Several times the protests escalated into clashes with law enforcement officers, and riot police used pepper gas and water cannons to disperse protesters.