Georgian police officers arrested 36 individuals, including reporters, on administrative offences during a public rally against the controversial domestic draft law on transparency of foreign influence late on Thursday outside the Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi.
The arrests had been made on charges of “petty hooliganism” and “disobedience to police officers”, the Georgian Interior Ministry said on Friday.
The protest was launched after a joint session of the foreign relations and defence committees of the Parliament on Thursday began discussions on the proposed bill that involves registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets as “agents of foreign influence” if they derive more than 20% of their income from abroad.
Lawmakers clashed verbally and physically during the session, before Parliament security removed opposition MPs.
Proposed by a public movement founded by former members of the ruling Georgian Dream party, the bill has been met by a backlash from the domestic opposition, civil sector and diplomatic representations in the country, who have claimed threats to democratic principles from the bill’s potential adoption.
