Interior Ministry urges domestic opposition parties, organisers of transparency bill protests to refrain from “prevocational actions”

The Georgian Interior Ministry on Friday called on domestic opposition parties and organisers of the public protests against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence to refrain from “prevocational actions and respect the professional activities of law enforcement officers”.

The Ministry said it had had information on alleged plots by “certain” political forces and organisers of the protests to stage “violent actions” and make them appear to be from law enforcement officers.

The body said they had been also planning to appear at the rallies in uniforms of “various” structural units of the Ministry, spreading the information “as if police forces joined the protests”.

It is notable that participants of recent protests, in the course of the gathering and manifestation also appeal to the police through various media sources and make calls in their direction to join the protest”, the body noted.

As they failed to achieve their goal, supporters of the protest rally are openly requiring information in various social networks, on how to find police uniforms and equipment”, the body added.

The participants of the rally on Friday blocked Rustaveli Avenue and gathered outside the Paragraph hotel, where the 57th annual Asian Development Bank meeting were held, before moving to the office of the ruling Georgian Dream party.

The rallies come against the bill that 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 bill has been reintroduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party after its retraction following protests last year, and has sparked public protests.