Riots in Tbilisi: Over 130 persons were detained during the protests

During the protests in Tbilisi that erupted on March 7 and 8 against the adoption of the law on “foreign agents” in front of the parliament building, Georgian Interior Ministry officers detained 134 people.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs 134 people has been arrested after the Tuesday protest which started when lawmakers approved a first reading of the law, which requires any organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as “foreign agents”.

Thousands of rallies and marches took place outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on March 7-8, accompanied by clashes between demonstrators and the police. On Thursday, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that police detained more than 130 people during protests on March 7 and 8 near the parliament building in Tbilisi.

Protests continued into the night of March 9th. The demonstrators surrounded the parliament – they were dispersed by the police with the help of tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades and sound suppression equipment. At some point, panic and stampede arose in the pushed back crowd – there are victims.

After violent dispersal, the protesters split into groups, blocked the roadway in the city center, and began to build barricades. Part grappled into a column and went back to the parliament building.

Protest actions were also held in other cities of Georgia. In Batumi, about a thousand people took to the streets against the law on foreign agents.

On Tuesday, March 7, the Parliament of Georgia adopted in the first reading the bill “On Transparency of Financing of External Influence”, which is also called the “Law on Foreign Agents”. Of the 150 deputies, 76 voted for the adoption of the law, 13 against, and 61 more did not vote. The bill obliged all legal entities and individuals receiving funding from abroad to register in a special register. Otherwise, violators would face a large fine or imprisonment for a period of five years.

On the first day of the protest, 66 people were detained. They are charged with administrative articles on petty hooliganism and resistance to the police. An investigation has also been launched under criminal articles for assaulting police officers and damaging or destroying property.