Georgian government withdraws controversial “foreign agents’ bill after massive protests

Georgian government announced that it had withdrawn the “foreign influence” bill which caused the protests, in order to “calm down the situation in the country”. In a statement made by the ruling Georgian Imaginary Party, it was stated that the draft law called “foreign influence” which was pre-approved by the parliament on March 7, was withdrawn. In the statement, it was noted that the representatives of the opposition had been consulted and it was decided to withdraw the draft law.

In the statement, which stated that detailed information will be given about the draft law in the future, the statement stated, “To do this, we will start meetings with the public and we will inform the public about the truth about every detail of the issue.” Opponents announced that they will continue their actions despite the withdrawal of the draft law.

The Georgia Protests

The bill stipulated that Georgian entities that receive more than 20 percent of their funds from abroad would register as ‘foreign agents’ or face fines. Opponents and President Salome Zurabishvili want the bill to be annulled, arguing that it was prepared on the orders of Russia. While Zurabishvili announced that he would veto the bill if it is passed in the parliament, the opposition started demonstrations to cancel the bill. During the deliberations of the bill on 3 and 6 March, a fight broke out among the deputies in the parliament.

After the bill received preliminary approval from the Parliament on March 7, the activists gathered in front of the parliament building and closed the entrances and exits. The police attacked the demonstrators with tear gas and water cannon. During the two-day demonstrations, 50 police officers were injured and 133 protesters were detained.