During the late hours of April 30th and into the early hours of May 1st, law enforcement forcefully cracked down on peaceful demonstrators along Rustaveli Avenue protesting the Foreign Agents Bill, resulting in 63 arrests and numerous injuries to the protesters. Police used pepper spray, tear gas and water cannon against the demonstrators.
Civil.ge compiled some of the international reactions to the developments in Tbilisi.
Michael Roth, Chair of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee: Dear Prime Minister Kobakhidze. Stop immediately the violence against your citizens, demonstrating peacefully on the streets for European values. Withdraw the Foreign Agents Law! Don’t destroy Georgia’s future which lies in the very heart of Europe!”
Peter Fischer, German Ambassador to Georgia: “Violence and personal injuries this night at Tbilisi Protests. The violence should stop. It is never a solution. Germany and the EU are following and evaluating these events closely. We are partners and friends of Georgia for peace, freedom and development.”
Viola Von Cramon, MEP to Gert Ian Koopman, EU Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations: “Please use the visit today to tell the Georgia’s authorities to STOP beating up their people. No more violence and brutality against peaceful protesters. Tell them to withdraw from the Russian Law – no more nice projects & happy pictures with Georgian officials.”
Andrius Kubilius, MEP: “The same path is followed by Putin, Lukashenko, and Ivanishvili: first-brutal force against peaceful demonstrations, then the establishment of a dictatorship against the democratic future of a country. Future of dictatorships is always the same: sanctions, collapse, and Tribunal.”
Miriam Lexmann, MEP: “I’m abhorred by the images of police brutality against protesters in Tbilisi. This is not law enforcement. Instead of calming the situation, the GD government is fueling tension, polarisation and sliding Georgia towards Russian-style authoritarianism.”
More to follow…