Police in Georgia use tear gas, water cannons to disperse protest against so-called ‘Russian law’

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Police in Georgia’s capital have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters who rallied outside the country’s parliament to protest a bill that would require media and non-commercial organizations to register as being under foreign influence if they get over 20% of their funding from abroad. Thousands of demonstrators gathered Tuesday to oppose the legislation that they see as an impediment to Georgia’s long-sought prospects of joining the European Union. They denounced it as “the Russian law” because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. Police broke up the protest after the demonstrators tried to block the entrances to the parliament building in order to prevent lawmakers from leaving.