Georgian former minister detained at rally against bill on foreign agents

Georgian ex-minister of state for integration with European and Euro-Atlantic institutions Alexi Petriashvili was detained by police during a protest rally against the bill on foreign agents.

"Petriashvili was detained in administrative order for disobedience of police and disorderly conduct," a press service of the Ministry of Interior told TASS.

Georgian mass media reported that Petriashvili, who worked as the minister of state in 2012-2014, was detained during skirmishes with police, when protesters tried to break the cordon of law enforcement personnel and rush into the stage in front of the parliament.

On April 17, Georgia’s parliament approved in the first reading a bill on foreign agents. It was opposed by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, the opposition and Western diplomats, who saw it as an obstacle to the country's integration into the European Union. Since Monday, the opposition and civil activists have been holding rallies against the bill in Tbilisi. Protests sometimes turn into clashes with police.

The ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party announced in early April that it had decided to reintroduce the bill “On the Transparency of Foreign Influence” to parliament. This happened a year after a similar initiative triggered mass protests, forcing the authorities to abandon the bill. Its text remains identical to last year’s, except for the term "agent of foreign influence." Instead, the term "organization promoting the interests of a foreign power" is used.