In Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, the police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protestors against the controversial law on "foreign agents."
The Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that the demonstration "took a violent nature."
In the footage shown by Georgian television, it is seen how the crowd is blocking Rustaveli Avenue, and the police are using a water cannon. The protesters are holding the flags of Georgia and the European Union.
Clashes continued until late at night. Later, the police pushed the protesters back from near the parliament building.
In the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, it was noted that there are injured among both the police and the protesters, but their number was not mentioned.
Also, the police arrested protesters, the number of which was not mentioned either. But according to Mtavari television, their number reaches dozens.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia announced that the protest "took a violent nature, the participants of the demonstration tried to block one of the entrances to the parliament, violent actions took place against the employees of the ministry."
The opposition, however, claims that the demonstration was peaceful.
The protest outside the Georgian parliament started after a controversial bill similar to the Russian law on "foreign agents" was passed in the first reading by the legislature.
President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili, who is on an official visit to the US, addressed the protesters on Rustaveli Avenue with a speech of support—and against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty in New York.
"I have said from the first day that I will veto that law, and I will. I am not worried about its article discussion, I am not concerned about its similarity to some old American law, which, as we know very well, serves completely different purposes," Zourabichvili said.
But the powers of the President of Georgia are very limited, and in any case the ruling party will have enough votes in the parliament to overcome the presidential veto.
