Public Defender visits individuals arrested during transparency bill protests
The protest comes against the legislative initiative which calls for registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. Photo: Public Defender's Office
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Levan Ioseliani, the Public Defender of Georgia, on Wednesday visited individuals arrested during protests between Monday and Tuesday against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence outside the Parliament in the country’s capital Tbilisi.
In his comments, Ioseliani said he had visited 18 protesters, including politicians from domestic opposition parties, at the Tbilisi Police Department, with several individuals - including Irakli Kupradze, member of the Lelo opposition party - notifying the Ombudsperson they had received physical injuries during the arrests.
Ioseliani also visited other detained individuals at the Zahesi Detention Centre, with two out of the six indicating physical injuries and one transferred to a clinic.
The Public Defender said reports on the alleged violations committed by police officers would be sent to the country’s Special Investigation Service, and noted representatives of his office had spent the night outside pretrial detention facilities.
The protest comes against the legislative initiative which calls for registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.
The legislative piece has been reintroduced by the ruling party after its original version was retracted last year following public protests.
Georgian police on Monday arrested 14 individuals during public protests over the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence outside the Parliament in the country’s capital Tbilisi, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
The Georgian Parliament will on Wednesday continue discussions of the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence in its first hearing, the legislative body said.
Georgian Interior Ministry on Tuesday said the police officers had implemented “all necessary preventive measures” to avoid violence and mass confrontation, as well as to provide the citizens, protesting the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence outside the Parliament in the country’s capital Tbilisi on Monday, with the right of assembly and demonstration.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday said access to information was a “legitimate right of citizens”, in response to criticism from some member states of the European Union and domestic opposition over the ruling Georgian Dream party’s reintroduction of a controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday claimed the aim of public protests over the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence was to “suppress discussion and stage violent scenes”.
The Georgian Parliament’s discussion of the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence has sparked public protests outside the legislative body in Tbilisi on Monday, with domestic opposition parties, non-governmental organisations, media outlets and citizens involved in a rally.