Opponents of 'foreign agents bill' detained near Parliament amid heavy police presence
Protest dispersed in Tbilisi
In Tbilisi, near the building of the Parliament of Georgia, where citizens were protesting against the adoption of the “foreign agents bill”, the police began to break up the demonstration and arrest the demonstrators.
As of May 14, 18:00, it is still unclear how many people were arrested. On the videos published by media, the arrest of more than ten people can be seen.
At the moment, only the arrest of Lazare Grigoriadis is confirmed. This is confirmed by Lazare’s mother. Lazare Grigoriadis was already arrested once for protesting the “Russian law”. He was arrested last year after the March protests. Grigoriadis left prison only a few weeks ago after being pardoned by the president.
The situation on Rustaveli Avenue escalates after ‘Georgian Dream’ swiftly passes ‘foreign agents bill’ in third reading with 84 votes.
The dissemination of this information was met with loud protests near the parliament. Demonstrators left messages on the parliament wall: ‘Given away for nothing’, ‘Kremlin’s branch’, ‘This country is ours’. Some attempted to breach the iron barriers erected at the parliament entrance.
As tensions flared, special forces emerged from the parliament building courtyard. The police began dispersing the rally without prior warning. The official statement from the agency was only released after live footage showed the arrest of several individuals.
The statement reads: ‘The action that took place near the legislative body exceeded the legal norms for assemblies and demonstrations and took on a violent character.’
By 18:20, the area around the parliament was completely occupied by special forces. An unprecedentedly large number of police officers and OMON fighters were mobilized to the scene.
Protest dispersed in Tbilisi
