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Actions against the scandalous draft law on "foreign agents" - "On the transparency of foreign influence" are taking place on Thursday in three cities of Georgia.
This is reported by NewsGeorgia, Ukrinform reports.
As noted, several dozen people marched to the city hall in Zugdidi. Protesters carried a placard with the slogan "Yes to Europe, no to Russian law."
The inhabitants of Gori gathered in the historic center of the city with the flags of the European Union and Georgia. Demonstrators' placards carried the following slogans: "No to Russian law", "The city bombed by Russia will not accept Russian law. Our choice is Europe."
In Tbilisi, the action was organized today by the student organizations "Djiuti" and "Dapioni". They staged a protest near the Georgian parliament building, and later moved to the government administration and demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. The students declared that they are ready to lecture Kobakhidze on why the draft law on the transparency of foreign influence is Russian. However, the Georgian prime minister did not want to meet with the protesters.
Although today's action in Tbilisi is small, the police have been mobilized in the government quarter, the office building is surrounded.
Protests against the draft law on "foreign agents" continue in Georgia for the fifth day. The largest was the rally near the parliament on April 17, when the draft law "On transparency of foreign influence" was adopted in the first reading. According to Western mass media, the action gathered up to 20 people.
The next large-scale action will most likely be devoted to hearing the initiative in the second reading. The exact date of the vote is unknown, but the new session week in the Parliament of Georgia will begin on April 30.
On Thursday, the country's largest opposition parties announced a transition to full mobilization mode to prevent the initiative from being passed in the second reading.
As reported by Ukrinform, on April 17, the Parliament of Georgia approved the law on "foreign agents" in the first reading. The document was supported by 83 deputies, none voted against.
According to the draft law, organizations that represent the interests of a "foreign power" are non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entities; broadcasters; media owners whose source of more than 20% of their total profit during a calendar year is a "foreign power".
The draft law on the introduction of the status of so-called foreign agents in Georgia was introduced to the parliament for the first time in the spring of 2023. It was passed in the first reading, but rejected in the second after mass protests.
At the beginning of April 2024, the executive secretary of the ruling party "Georgian Dream" Mamuka Mdinaradze stated that the government returned to consideration of the draft law on "foreign agents".
Due to the re-initiation of the draft law, protests are taking place in Tbilisi. Critics consider the bill to be similar to the legislation on "foreign agents" adopted in Russia in 2012.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili confirmed her intention to veto the law on "foreign agents" if it is passed.
The US State Department criticized the intentions of the Georgian parliament to adopt the Kremlin-inspired draft law "On transparency of foreign influence".
Photo: @Дафиони/Facebook / radioatinati.ge
