Georgian Government Withdraws Controversial Draft Law on Foreign Agents Amid Protests
Some breaking news from Georgia, where the governing party has withdrawn the controversial draft law on foreign agents that had been the cause of days of protests on the streets of the capital, Tbilisi. Many Georgians feared the legislation would restrict civil liberties. In a statement, the governing party, Georgian Dream, accepted the bill had caused division in society. It had previously argued that the new law would root out people working against the interests of Georgia and it's Orthodox.Church, let's just show you the scene in the capital tiblisi on Wednesday evening. You can see how big the disruption has been for a successive night. Riot police on the streets using tear gas, projectiles being thrown. Let's go to our correspondent in Tbilisi, Rehan Dimitri, and just bring us up-to-date Rayhan on that development that this this draft law which caused so much controversy, withdrawn just in the last hour
Georgia Withdraws Controversial Draft Law on Foreign Agents Amid Protests
Indeed, Karen so, the governing Georgian dream party put up a statement in the last half an hour or so and they said that they decided to withdraw unconditionally the proposed bill on foreign agents. The statement said that the the the the ruling party saw that the adopted law caused differences of opinion in society and they accused the opposition for of misrepresenting.The proposed bill and for falsely labeling it as the Russian law, well, this decision comes off the back of two days of mass protests here in the Georgian capital that were violently suppressed by the police. But also police officers have also suffered more than 50 police officers that received all sorts of injuries last night. The protests went on into the early hours, 4-5
Georgian Dream Party Concedes and Withdraws Proposed Bill on Foreign Agents
AM local time and protesters when when I was in the square yesterday, I saw really really big crowds, 10s of thousands of people defiantly standing there and saying that they will not, they will not go away anywhere until the government reverses its decision. And also I think it's important to mention that there has been really widespread condemnation from the United States from the.EU and this statement from the governing Georgian Dream Party says that Georgia will maintain its peace and stability and will continue moving towards Europe.
Backlash and Protests Lead to Withdrawal of Foreign Agents Law in Georgia
Ray Hunt, just explain why this bill caused so much concern among its opponents, why they feared it represented Pro Russian interests prevailing in Georgia
Georgia's Battle for Freedom: Protests and Condemnation Over Proposed
So many people here believe that it was a Russian style law, despite the fact that the government said that it was kind of copied from a similar US legislation. Georgia is Russia's neighbour. It had a war, it fought a war with Russia back in 2008 and most people, more than 80% of Georgians, want to see their country as part of the European family. That pledge is.Enshrined in the country's constitution. So by adopting or approving the first reading of this bill, the government kind of indicated that perhaps it was moving towards back towards Russia. That's why people were so angry, because Russia has a similar law. It adopted its foreign agents law in 2012 and over the years expanded the law to suppress any critical voices in Russia. People are labeled any Blogger.
Georgia's Civil Society Prevails as Government Withdraws Foreign Agents Bill
A media organization in Russia is labeled as foreign agents, and people saw that this law would do the same and eventually would suppress Georgia's vibrant civil society and free media. That's why there was so much resistance and that's why 10s of thousands of people came out in their eyes to defend their country's freedom.
