© David Mdzinarishvili/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesPeople gather to stage a demonstration against the bill on foreign influence transparency in Tbilisi, Georgia on March 9, 2023.
Tbilisi's main street, Rustaveli Avenue, was blocked for several days this week as thousands of people chanted anti-government slogans in front of the parliament building and sang the Georgian national anthem. Even more protesters gathered at the square in the evenings. By nightfall, the enraged crowd was throwing firecrackers, stones, and Molotov cocktails at the police, attempting to take down an iron fence and storm the parliament. The police used water cannons to promptly put out the fires and showered the crowds with water, at the same time spraying tear gas to disperse those present.
What led to this violent confrontation is perhaps difficult to understand from the perspective of a Western reader. It wasn't a "civil society" uprising in the sense you might find, for example, in a country like France. Instead, it was organized by people whose livelihoods were threatened by the proposed legislation.
Comment: See also: 2nd night of mass protests over foreign agent bill in Georgia, US & EU hypocritically warn against 'Kremlin-inspired law'