"No to Russian law!" - Some of the media representatives are not allowed in the parliament

Journalists and representatives of the media organizatins are holding another demonstration in parliament, outside the bureau's session hall. They have brought banners with the words - "No to Putin's law! The Russian law is not Georgia's choice!"

At today's session of the bureau, the MPs from "People's Power" movement, who formally left the Georgian Dream party, are to register another draft of the law on agents. They say they have translated the American law and registered the exact equivalent.

Media representatives say that there is one law, it is the Russian law, and it means destruction of civil society and independent media. It is known that Georgian Dream will support both of the draft laws, initiated in the first reading.

Some journalists were not allowed into the Parliament today, and their passes were revoked. The passes for them were granted by the opposition lawmakers. The reason behind this is not yet known.

For information, on February 27, the MP of the parliamentary majority and the member of "People's Power", Dimitri Khundadze, announced that both versions of the bills initiated by them will be sent to the Venice Commission. As a reminder, the so-called "renegades" and MPs who formally left the Dream have introduced a bill on "transparency of foreign influence" in parliament. According to the initiative, any media outlet or non-governmental organisation that receives more than 20 per cent of its income from abroad must be registered as an "agent of foreign influence". A spin-off group known for its anti-American and anti-Western rhetoric argues that the law ensures transparency. Georgian Dream is known to intend to support the bill. The initiative was criticized by the Western partners - the press spokesman of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Borrell, said that the adoption of the draft law would be incompatible with the norms and values of the EU. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on the political factions not to support the bill. The US ambassador to Georgia also criticized the bill. Kelly Degnan called it a Russian law and said it aims to stigmatize and silence civil society. According to the UN, the draft law threatens the activities of civil society and the media.