Tens of thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets in Tbilisi – protesting against a proposed law threatening press and civic freedoms.
The “foreign agents” bill has sparked a political crisis amid concerns it is modelled on laws used by Vladimir Putin to crack down on the media in Russia – and if passed, would make it harder for Georgia to join the EU.
UAE Breaking international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn is in Tbilisi:
The Georgian security forces moved in shortly after dawn this morning. Phalanxes of masked men sweeping through streets and parks outside parliament.
They kettled protesters with force. We were caught in the crush as they squeezed the crowd.
A woman screamed as she was pinned to a post by the press of people.
Crowds had ringed the parliament building all night – intent on stopping MPs from voting on laws that demonstrators believe put Georgia on the path to dictatorship, and back in the embrace of Moscow.
“They want to drag us back to autocracy, to the country they occupied us for too many years,” one protester told UAE Breaking News.
The police succeeded in clearing one entrance to parliament.
Flank after flank of interior ministry security forces backed by helmeted riot police and water cannon trucks are now in a tense standoff with a multi-coloured sea of protesters on the corner of the parliament building.
The blue and green colors of Ukraine and the European Union contrast with the red and white tones of Georgia’s flag.
The protesters were peaceful, but the police were not. They released snap troops to charge into the crowd.
UAE Breaking News witnessed a masked security guard grab a man and punch him in the defenseless head.
Attempts by demonstrators to separate MPs from Parliament have failed, but their numbers are increasing.
“We will not give up,” one woman told us.
“We cannot allow them to take away our freedoms.”
The government was forced to shelve the law last year despite fierce opposition, but many The ruling Georgian Dream party, considered pro-Russian, is determined. Look at the laws that have been passed.