The ruling Georgian Dream party, which was forced to drop a similar bill last year after public outcry, is intent on passing the bill at a final hearing expected on Tuesday, arguing the new rules will promote transparency.
Hundreds of young Georgians crowded outside the Caucasus country's parliament after a night-long demonstration against a controversial"foreign influence" law that critics say was inspired by repressive Russia n legislation.
"We are planning to stay here for as long as it takes," 22-year-old Mariam Karlandadze told AFP news agency on Monday, as lawmakers pushed the bill through a legal committee.AFP journalists saw hundreds of riot police lining a street behind parliament, where law enforcement scuffled with protestors and carried out detentions.
"We strongly condemn acts of intimidation, threats, and physical assaults against the protesters, against civil society activists, against politicians and against journalists and media workers," spokesperson Peter Stano said. Many of them had stayed put overnight, wrapped in EU and Georgian flags. They burst into cheers when stray dogs ran barking after police cars.
"If this law passes we will slowly become Russia. We know what happened there and in Belarus. We know this scenario," said 26-year-old Archil Svanidze.
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