TBILISI, Georgia, March 9. — The Republic of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has revoked a controversial law on “foreign agents” after two days of massive and violent protests in the capital, including an infamous brawl in parliament, but the opposition has warned it will hold more demonstrations.

“As a responsible state party to every member of society, we have decided to unconditionally withdraw this law, which we supported,” said Suegno Giorgiano in a joint statement with Fuerza del Pueblo, in which the two organizations said: “Above all, we must take care of peace, tranquility and economic development of Georgia, about Georgia’s progress along the path of European integration,” the German news agency DW reported.

The note emphasizes that the “lie machine” confused part of society, since the bill was falsely called “Russian”, and its approval in the first reading was interpreted as a refusal to integrate the country into Europe.

The draft Foreign Influence Transparency Law classifies non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media outlets that are partially funded from abroad (at least 20 percent) as “foreign agents”.

A similar law was adopted in Russia in 2012, which, in turn, is very similar to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA), which establishes the status of a foreign agent not only for media and organizations, but also for individuals and legal entities. .

Over the past two days, more than 130 people have been detained in Tbilisi during protests and clashes, as a result of which at least 60 police officers were injured, according to the Georgian Interior Ministry. The latest clashes took place last morning, when riot police cleared barricades from the main Rustaveli Avenue, where protesters burned two cars, one of them a police car.

Despite the decision to abandon the project, the opposition vowed to continue their protests, citing a lack of confidence and the authorities’ inability to release people detained during the recent riots, CNN reported.

Source: Juventud Rebelde