In the Georgian parliament, deputies fought during the consideration of the bill on foreign agents

In the Georgian Parliament, deputies got into a fight during the consideration of the bill about foreign agents/Screenshot from video

A fight broke out in the Georgian parliament between members of the ruling Georgian Dream faction and the opposition. Meanwhile, hundreds of people protested in Tbilisi against the anti-democratic law.

Today, May 24, in Georgia they voted for the bill on the so-called “ foreign agents” in the third reading. During the consideration of the bill in parliament, a fight occurred

Details of the incident

A fight broke out between deputies of the Georgian Dream faction and the opposition. In total, about 20 deputies of the parliamentary majority took part in the fight.

It is reported that a member of the parliamentary majority, Rima Beradze, hit the Agmashnebeli Strategy member Paata Manjgaladze on the head with a folder of papers, and the party leader She threatened Giorgi Vashadze with a tablet.

Prior to this, Georgian Dream deputy Dmitry Samkharadze insulted the head of the National Movement, Levan Khabeishvili, at a plenary session, and then tried to use physical violence against the opposition deputy.

< strong>Fight in the hall of the Georgian Parliament: watch video

After this, the meeting was interrupted for an undetermined hour, but subsequently continued.< /p>

Despite thousands of protests and criticism of the event, the bill was finally passed.

What’s wrong with the bill on “foreign agents”

Media and public organizations that receive funding from abroad will be granted the status of “agents of foreign influence.” The prosecutor's office, not the state registry service, should register so-called foreign agents. For individuals, violation of the law is punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years, and for legal entities – a fine.

Georgia adopted a bill on “foreign agents”

• May 14, the Georgian Parliament in its final reading approved the law on the draft law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence.” 84 deputies voted “for”, 30 oppositionists voted against.
• We recall that Western countries called on not to adopt this law. The day before, members of the US Congress from both parties addressed Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. The authors of the letter expressed concern about the actions of the Georgian government and the comments of some current and former local officials. They noticed that the version of the Georgian law looks like a similar Russian law.
• President Salomi Zurabishvili had previously promised that she would veto the bill. However, Georgian Dream has enough votes to override the veto. If after this the president does not sign the law, the chairman of parliament can sign it.