Georgia, California “cops” law repealed: man survives nearly a week in a snowstorm in the car

Despite massive protests, Georgia’s parliament on Friday withdrew plans to classify foreign media and organizations as “agents”. According to media reports, the Chamber of Deputies in Tbilisi has rejected the controversial law at second reading.

At the same time, another gathering of pro-European demonstrators took place in front of the parliament building. Meanwhile, criticism of the Georgian leadership’s withdrawal came from Moscow. The bill was reminiscent of a Russian model. There have been protests against this for days.

The ruling party, the Georgian Dream, announced on Thursday that it would withdraw the draft. The triggers were protests with tens of thousands of participants, which continued even after the ruling party withdrew and arrested protesters were released. Numerous critics took to the streets again on Thursday evening.

At second reading, 35 MPs voted against the law, with only one yes vote. Many MPs from the ruling party who voted in favor of the law a few days ago stayed away. The Speaker of the Russian Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, criticized the repeal of the law. “By not discussing it in parliament, Georgia has missed its chance for sovereignty,” Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel. Volodin accused the US of being behind the protests.

In Russia, numerous independent media – as well as non-governmental organizations – have been labeled “foreign agents”. The ordinance has been criticized internationally as a politically motivated measure to stigmatize and silence Kremlin critics. Particularly since the start of the offensive war against Ukraine, which President Vladimir Putin ordered more than a year ago, Russia has been campaigning massively against dissidents at home.

Volodin nevertheless argued that Russian law was much more liberal than any law governing control of foreign-funded organizations in the US since 1938. Critics in Tbilisi drew parallels between the Russian law and the Georgian design. They accused the government of the relatively pro-Russian Georgian Dream party of paving the way for authoritarianism. They also saw this as a threat to the former Soviet republic’s EU prospects.

(yam/sda/dpa)