Sawt Falasteen - Georgians protest in last stand against 'foreign agent' bill

The ex-Soviet republic has been gripped for weeks by huge protests over the bill, dubbed the "Russian law" as it resembles repressive legislation used by the Kremlin.

Protesters -- largely young people -- are furious over the bill, saying it will sabotage the Caucasus country's hopes of joining the EU and will end democracy in the country.

The ruling Georgian Dream party -- which was forced to drop a similar bill last year after a huge backlash -- are intent on passing the bill Tuesday, arguing it is all about transparency.

The law requires NGOs and media receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as an "organisation pursuing the interests of a foreign power".

MPs on Monday pushed the bill through a parliamentary legal committee in minutes.

Tens of thousands protested against the bill Sunday, with some staying all night to stop ruling party MPs from entering the parliament building Monday.

At dawn, AFP saw police detain and beat a group of protesters.

Hundreds of riot police lined a small street behind parliament, with some scuffling with protesters.

Authorities had warned they would arrest people who blocked parliament, but thousands defied the warning and came to the building's gates anyway.

The protests in Georgia have been led by students from Tbilisi's universities who declared a strike Monday.

"We are planning to stay here for as long as it takes," 22-year-old Mariam Kalandadze told AFP.

- 'We know this scenario' -

"This law means not joining Europe," she said, adding that "this is something that I have wanted my whole life."

Protesters accuse Georgian Dream of lying when it says it is still committed to Georgia joining the EU.

They say the bill will bring Georgia closer to authoritarian Russia.

A similar law was passed in Russia in 2012 and has been used to crack down on dissent.

"If this law passes we will slowly become Russia. We know what happened there and in Belarus," said 26-year-old Archil Svanidze.

"We know this scenario."

The face of Georgian protests has been remarkably young, with people under 30 taking a leading role on the street and some freshly out of school.

But many said their parents and grandparents supported them.

"We always knew we were part of Europe. Every generation knows about this -- not only Gen Zs and millennials," Svanidze said, proudly adding that his father was at the protest most of the night.

- 'We will leave' -

Georgian Dream -- in power since 2012 -- has portrayed the protesters as a violent mob and has defended the law as necessary for Georgian sovereignty.

It brought back the bill in a shock move in April, a year after it was dropped due to a massive backlash.

Its billionaire backer Bidzina Ivanishvili -- who made his fortune in Russia -- has declared NGOs as the enemy from within, accusing them of plotting a revolution and of taking orders from foreign countries.

Officials often accuse protesters and the opposition of having links with the previous government, which was led by their nemesis Mikheil Saakashvili, who is now in jail.

"The ironic part is that they always criticise the last government as corrupt and brutal," 18-year-old Salome Lobjanidze said, who did not go to university lectures Monday to stand outside parliament.

She was six when Georgia's previous government fell, saying she was tired of these arguments.

Lobjanidze, who was at parliament with her friend, said she was "devastated" by the law.

"If it goes through, many of the people standing here will leave (the country)," she told AFP.

The stand-off is one of the most tense in the country's recent political history.

K.AbuTaha--SF-PST