Health Ministry says 15 individuals, including police officers, hospitalised following transparency bill protests
The Georgian Parliament on Wednesday approved the second reading of the bill that has sparked public protests and criticism by some of the country’s foreign partners. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The Ministry of Health of Georgia on Thursday said 15 individuals, including law enforcement officers, had been hospitalised after receiving injuries during protests in Tbilisi between Wednesday and Thursday against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence.
The body added some of the individuals had been discharged from clinics following treatment.
Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze on Thursday said protesters had “violently taken down” steel barriers set up by police, thrown “various heavy objects” including bottles and stones, used tear gas and attempted to break into the Parliament by damaging the iron gate of the building.
Darakhvelidze also said law enforcement officers were using “special measures established by law to repel the attack” on the building, including water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray. He emphasised that “despite having a full legal basis, the Ministry employees did not use rubber bullets".
The Deputy Minister alleged the protesters had used a “tear gas of unknown origin” that was not available for purchase in chain stores, adding the Ministry would investigate how the participants of the rally obtained it.
The Georgian Parliament on Wednesday approved the second reading of the bill that has sparked public protests and criticism by some of the country’s foreign partners.
The legislative piece, which calls for the 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, was supported by 83 MPs in the 150-member lawmaking body.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday predicted protests and demonstrations would continue during the third reading of the bill, but claimed passing the law would “ensure the elimination of polarisation and radicalism in the long run”, stressing its approval was a “principled national task”.
Georgia’s Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze on Thursday called on the participants of the ongoing protests over the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence outside the Parliament in the country’s capital Tbilisi, to stop “violent and illegal” actions and protest in a “peaceful manner”, otherwise the law enforcement officers would be “forced to stop” the rally.
The Georgian Parliament on Wednesday approved the second reading of the bill on the transparency of foreign influence that has sparked public protests and criticism by some of the country’s foreign partners.
Levan Ioseliani, the Georgian Public Defender, on Wednesday called on protesters against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence to maintain a “peaceful form of gathering” while also urging law enforcement to “refrain from interfering with the freedom of expression of our citizens”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday called on law enforcement officers to show “maximum patience” amid ongoing protest rallies against the domestic bill on the transparency of foreign influence.