Georgia withdraws foreign agent bill after days of protests

By SOPHIKO MEGRELIDZE
Associated Press

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s ruling party says it is withdrawing a draft law from the parliament criticized as potentially stifling media freedom and civil society. The announcement came Thursday after several days of protests in the country’s capital. The Georgian Dream party and its allies said they were withdrawing the proposed law, citing “divisions in society” it triggered. The bill required media and nongovernmental organizations that receive over 20% of their funding from foreign sources to register as “agents of foreign influence.” It trigged mass protests in the country’s capital, Tbilisi, that lasted for several days and were brutally dispersed by police.