Georgia riot police launch violent crackdown on anti-government protests video report | World news

Georgian security forces used water cannon, teargas and stun grenades against protesters outside parliament. The sharp escalation happened while lawmakers debated a ‘foreign agents’ bill that is viewed by the opposition and western countries as authoritarian and Russian-inspired.

Reuters said some police officers attacked protesters. Thousands of people have shut down Tbilisi’s central streets nightly since parliament approved the bill’s first reading on 17 April. The bill would require organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as ‘foreign agents’.

Georgian critics have called the bill ‘the Russian law’, likening it to Moscow’s foreign agent legislation, which has been used to crack down on dissent

• Teargas and stun grenades used against Georgian protesters opposing ‘foreign agents’ bill