Police say 133 detained in transparency bill protests for “violation of public order, rule of law”
The Ministry said the arrests had been made for “violation of public order [and] rule of law”, adding one of the arrested protesters had been detained for assault of a law enforcement officer. Photo: MIA
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Georgian police arrested 133 individuals during protests outside the Parliament in central Tbilisi on Tuesday and Wednesday against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced on Thursday.
The Ministry said the arrests had been made for “violation of public order [and] rule of law”, adding one of the arrested protesters had been detained for assault of a law enforcement officer.
Its statement said that protests had proceeded peacefully for “several hours” until a participant made a call for the demonstrators to surround the legislative body.
Despite the warnings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the rally participants went beyond the norms established by the law on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, ignoring lawful demands of the law enforcement officers”, it said.
The gathered protesters behaved aggressively and damaged the protective barriers placed along the legislative body building [as well as] entrance doors, smashed the building's windows, threw stones, various objects and pyrotechnics into the Parliament building and inner yard, which may have resulted in serious consequences”, the statement added.
Characterising the protests as “extremely violent”, it also said the police had “applied respective coercive measures” to maintain order and “prevent violent and aggressive actions of law-breakers”.
Police tried to defuse the tense situation multiple times - they removed the aggressive persons from the territory surrounding the Parliament and called on rally participants to disperse peacefully. However, they continued their violent actions and did not follow the legal demands of the law enforcement officers”, the state body said.
Photo: 1TV.ge
Rally participants threw “Molotov cocktails”, stones, wooden poles and other objects in the direction of law enforcers, it also pointed out, while some of them damaged, overturned and set fire to several Ministry vehicles, damaged a bus of its Special Tasks Department as well as a fire truck and facades of buildings on adjacent Rustaveli Avenue, and smashed shop windows.
Those who gathered on Rustaveli Avenue also damaged material property owned by Tbilisi City Hall services [and] set fire to rubbish bins in the street, broke benches and public transport stops. Participants of the rally violated public order and the rule of law throughout the night at different locations and resisted police officers”, the official comment said.
About 10 Ministry employees received “injuries of various degrees” as a result of the “violent actions” of the protesters, the body said, adding other citizens had also been left injured.
The ruling Georgian Dream party on Thursday said it was “unconditionally” withdrawing the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence that was met by a backlash by domestic opposition, civil sector and diplomatic representations in the country, citing the interest of maintaining domestic “tranquillity”, the country’s development and its European integration aspirations as factors behind the decision.
Giorgi Vashadze, the leader of the Strategy Agmashenebeli opposition party, on Wednesday called on the participants of the rally to besiege the Parliament building.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday called on citizens currently gathered in front of the Parliament building, who are protesting the approval of the transparency bill by the legislative body on Tuesday, to “remain within the legal framework of peaceful assembly".
The Georgian police detained ten more people for disobedience to law enforcement during a protest outside the Parliament building in Tbilisi after the legislative body gave its initial backing to a proposed bill on transparency of foreign influence in its first reading, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy, on Thursday welcomed the decision of the ruling Georgian Dream party to withdraw the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence.
Georgia’s Special Investigation Service on Thursday announced it was investigating alleged instances of abuse of power by law enforcement officers during protests in central Tbilisi against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence.
Aleksandre Rakviashvili, an MP of the Girchi opposition party, on Thursday said the calls by Giorgi Vashadze, the Chair of the Strategy Agmashenebeli party, for demonstrators protesting the foreign influence transparency bill in Tbilisi on Wednesday to “besiege” the Parliament building had been “irresponsible”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday asked Bazy Malaurie, the President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, to suspend the body’s evaluation of the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, after the draft law was withdrawn by the ruling party earlier during the day.
All individuals detained by police for administrative offences on Tuesday and Wednesday outside the Parliament building in Tbilisi during a protest against the bill on transparency of foreign influence [adopted by the legislative body in its first reading], have been released, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
The Georgian Interior Ministry on Friday said 58 law enforcement officers had received “various injuries” while ensuring safety during the rallies in central Tbilisi on Tuesday and Wednesday that protested the Parliament’s discussion of the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Saturday said the individuals protesting outside the Parliament building against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence - whether urged by opposition or not - had taken “completely unusual steps”.
Three individuals have been arrested for assaulting law enforcement officers in southeastern Georgia’s Marneuli region, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday thanked the country’s Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri and the police for “protecting the legislative body and maintaining public order” during March protests in Tbilisi against the bill on transparency of foreign influence.
The European Union delegation to Georgia on Thursday welcomed the announcement by the ruling Georgian Dream party on withdrawal of the draft legislation on transparency of foreign influence.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday said he had “clearly confirmed” to country’s European and American “friends” that the ruling Georgian Dream party would not revert to the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, which it retracted from the Parliament voting following domestic and international backlash in March.