Thousands of demonstrators gathered to challenge a controversial law targeting the media and NGOs

On Tuesday, March 7, thousands demonstrated in Georgia against a controversial bill on “foreign agents”which critics of the authority denounced as a tool of intimidation against the media and NGOs.

Police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters who gathered outside Parliament, after MPs passed the bill in first reading, according to images from independent Pirelli TV. During the largely peaceful march, at least one protester threw a Molotov cocktail at a cordon of riot police, according to the same source.

A similar script was adopted in Russia

The bill states that organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad must register in their own name“foreign agents”, taking into account fines. This text refers to a similar law adopted in Russia in 2012 that the Kremlin has used extensively to crack down on media outlets, opposition organizations, or minor critical voices.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili spoke on television from New York to say “side by side” some protesters. Today you represent a free Georgia that sees its future in Europe and that will not allow anyone to steal this future from it.She added a student to be law “canceled” He promised to use his veto power. But this veto could be overridden by the ruling party, the Georgian Dream, which controls more than half of the seats in Parliament.