Sawt Falasteen - Dozens of Georgia pro-EU protesters arrested in violent police crackdown

The Caucasus nation has been gripped by anti-government protests since April 9, after the ruling Georgian Dream party reintroduced plans to pass a law, which Brussels has denounced as undermining Tbilisi's European Union aspirations.

The turmoil came ahead of parliamentary elections in October seen as a test of Georgia's democracy. Critics of the "foreign influence" bill say it resembles Russian legislation used to silence dissent.

An AFP reporter saw masked riot police violently rush the peaceful rally Tuesday evening, using tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon, while beating and arresting scores of people.

Several journalists were attacked, including an AFP photographer who was beaten with a rubber baton, despite being clearly identified as a member of the press.

Lawmaker Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the main opposition United National Movement of jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, was badly beaten and had to seek medical help.

TV stations aired footage showing his face disfigured with missing teeth.

Another Saakashvili ally, Sophia Japaridze, said she was "cruelly beaten by police."

"I call on the interior minister to immediately stop the crackdown on the peaceful rally, the use of disproportionate force, the violence against barehanded youth," Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili -- who is at loggerheads with the ruling party -- said in a statement.

The rally continued past midnight, with defiant protesters braving water cannon jets and tear gas.

Demonstrators blocked traffic outside parliament on Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi's main thoroughfare, and several other key roads across the city.

In the early hours of Wednesday, protesters erected barricades outside parliament building after riot police left the area. By 10:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) the rally was over, but was expected to resume in the evening.

The interior ministry said 63 demonstrators were arrested for "disobeying police and petty hooliganism."

It said police used "legitimate force" only after the protest had "turned violent and demonstrators entered in a verbal and physical confrontation with law enforcement."

- 'Russian law' -

Georgia's rights ombudsman, Levan Ioseliani, called for an investigation into the "disproportionate force" used against protesters and journalists.

"They are scared because they see our resolve," one protester, 21-year-old Natia Gabisonia, told AFP. "We will not let them pass this Russian law and bury our European future."

MPs are set to resume debating the draft law on Wednesday, with the ruling party aiming to adopt it in mid-May.

The bill, currently in its second reading, needs to pass three readings in parliament and a presidential signature to become law. The president is expected to veto the measure, but the ruling party has enough seats to override the veto in parliament.

If adopted, the law would require any independent NGO and media organisation receiving more than 20 percent of its funding from abroad to register as an "organisation pursuing the interests of a foreign power".

- EU criticism -

EU chief Charles Michel has said the bill "is not consistent with Georgia's bid for EU membership" and that it "will bring Georgia further away from the EU and not closer."

On Monday, Georgian Dream bussed thousands of people to the capital for a counter rally held amid reports that government employees were being forced to attend.

In a rare public appearance, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili -- the ruling party chairman who is widely believed to the main power in Georgia -- addressed the crowd.

He said the bill aimed to increase the transparency of foreign funding for civil groups, saying that "non-transparent funding of NGOs is the main instrument for the appointment of a Georgian government from abroad".

Last year, mass street protests forced Georgian Dream to drop the measure.

Georgia has sought for years to deepen relations with the West, but the current ruling party has been accused of attempting to steer the former Soviet republic closer to Russia.

In December, the EU granted Georgia official candidate status but said Tbilisi would have to reform its judicial and electoral systems, reduce political polarisation, improve press freedom and curtail the power of oligarchs before membership talks are formally launched.

Georgia's bid for membership of the EU and NATO is enshrined in its constitution and -- according to opinion polls -- supported by more than 80 percent of the population.

U.Shaheen--SF-PST