Protestor in Georgia charged with assaulting a police officer

Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the arrest of a person suspected of assaulting a police officer during mass protests on March 7, near Georgia’s parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue.

A ministry press release notes that the suspect was born in 2001. He faces between four and seven years in prison.

The internal affairs ministry also announced that 76 protestors had been arrested and charged with hooliganism and disobeying police orders.

Mass protests broke out on March 7, after Georgia’s parliament passed a bill about “foreign agents.” Police violently dispersed protestors with water cannons and tear gas.

Critics of the law consider it an attack on freedom of speech in the country. President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili has said that she supports the protestors and plans to veto the bill.

March 8 saw a women’s march against the law, and protestors gathered again at the parliament building in the evening. Local publication Paper Kartuli estimates that over 10,000 people participated in the protests.