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Police detain 14 people at rally in Georgia

The Georgian Interior Ministry said that one police member was injured

TBILISI, April 15. /TASS/. The Georgian Interior Ministry said police detained 14 people during a rally against a foreign agents bill in the capital city of Tbilisi.

The people were detained on charges of petty hooliganism and resisting the police. One police member was injured during clashes with the protesters.

Earlier on Monday, several thousand people gathered at the entrance to the parliament as the legislature’s committee on legal issues considered and approved the bill in the first reading.

The ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party announced in early April that it would reintroduce the bill On Transparency of Foreign Influence to parliament. The move comes a year after a similar initiative led to mass protests, forcing officials to drop the bill. The new bill is almost identical to the one that was introduced last year, except one detail: The term "agent of foreign influence" was replaced by the term "organization representing the interests of a foreign power."

The bill has drawn protests from Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili and the political opposition, along with the diplomatic corps, including the EU office in Georgia and the US Embassy. According to opponents of the initiative, the bill will hinder Georgia's integration into the European Union.

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