TBILISI, Georgia (AP) – Georgia’s parliament on Friday voted to drop a controversial law that opponents – and thousands of protesters who flocked to the capital earlier this week – warned would stifle dissent and media freedom could restrict, which would lead to a Russian-style repression.
The law would have required media and non-governmental organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign sources to register as “agents with foreign influence”. Opponents argued that the bill was inspired by a similar law in Russia, used to silence critics, and could hamper Georgia’s aspirations to one day join NATO and the European Union.
Lawmakers voted 35-1 against the bill Friday morning in a session that lasted just four minutes and included no discussion. The vote came less than a day after Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, announced it would withdraw the law after protests in Tbilisi swelled to tens of thousands despite tear gas and water cannons.
Demonstrations continued into Thursday evening and Friday morning, with gatherers saying they want to ensure the law is abandoned and secure the release of more than 100 protesters arrested in recent days.
The Interior Ministry of Georgia said on Friday morning that it had released all 133 people arrested during mass rallies in front of the parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, it added that an investigation was underway into “incidents of violence” alleged to have taken place.
Pro-European MPs opposed to the bill unfurled national and EU flags during Friday’s vote. Khatia Dekanoidze, a United National Movement MP, called the bill a “Russian law” and a “dangerous obstacle” to Georgia’s European integration.
“Today is a very important day,” she told the Associated Press. “We did it together with young protesters, young generations, students, together with Georgian society and it was absolutely amazing how united the society was.”
Mate Gabeshia, a student who attended a rally against the law on Friday, said that “the government understood it had no chance” in the face of strong popular protests.
“There are so many young people out (protesting) that they haven’t had a chance to convince us,” he said, adding that he saw his participation in the protests as “a fight for freedom.”
The European Union agreed in June to put Ukraine and Moldova on the path to EU membership, but withheld Georgia’s bid, citing the need for further reforms.
Opposition parties have in recent years accused Georgian Dream of pursuing pro-Russian policies while claiming to be Western-leaning. Opponents charge that the party’s founder, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has amassed a fortune in Russia, continues to call the shots in the Black Sea nation of 3.7 million people, even though the former prime minister is currently out of government.
The party has repeatedly denied any connection with Russia or any inclination towards Moscow.
The Kremlin spokesman said on Friday Moscow had “nothing to do” with Georgian Dream’s foreign agent law. At a regular press conference, Dmitry Peskov claimed without explanation that the US was using the controversy over the law to stoke anti-Russian sentiment in Georgia.
Relations between Russia and Georgia have been rocky and complicated since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The two countries fought a brief war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control of two pro-Russian separatist regions. Tbilisi had severed diplomatic ties with Moscow and the issue of the regions’ status remains a key nuisance, even if relations have improved somewhat.
