A harsh crackdown on protesters began outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi on the evening of April 16.
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Police and special forces are pushing protesters away from side exits from parliament, which is being abandoned by deputies who today continued to consider the scandalous bill on so-called foreign agents.
The authorities, in counteraction to the activists, sent special forces to maintain order and installed a car with a water cannon under the walls of parliament.
Local publics in their videos show that in several places there is a stampede and clashes, the police are using tear gas against the demonstrators. The protesters leave the nearby streets and move to Rustaveli Avenue.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Georgian Dream, Mamuka Mdinaradze, was indignant in response to the opposition’s proposal to go out and talk with participants in the rally against the law on foreign agents.
If I take a risk, go out and die for an idea that you dubbed “Russian”, but in fact, according to my faith and arguments, Georgian, how will you behave then? Why do you allow yourself such rhetoric?,” Mdinaradze said.
Let us remind you that rallies in Tbilisi and other cities of the country are taking place against the backdrop of deputies discussing the bill on foreign agents.
Security forces are using gas grenades and pepper spray against citizens, and harsh arrests have begun, RusNews writes.
Paper Kartuli notes that in the courtyard of the parliament, when Georgian deputies tried to leave, tear gas was used against the assembled demonstrators.
Earlier, water cannons were brought to the protest site. According to the Tbilisi life telegram channel, a sound cannon was spotted in the vicinity of the parliament to disperse the crowd. According to other information, it is possible to install it to jam communications.
The vote on the bill on “foreign agents” was postponed from April 16 to April 17.
Source: Racurs
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