By Felix Light and Lucy Papachristou
TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia’s parliament passed a law on Friday forbidding protesters to cover their faces and banning fireworks and lasers from demonstrations following clashes between police and civilians at pro-EU protests.
The law, which imposes a fine of 2,000 lari ($720) for offenders, was passed unanimously, the Interpress news agency said.
Lawmakers also approved increases in fines for defacing buildings and blocking traffic. Convictions for organising road blocks carrying fines of up to 15,000 lari ($5,400).
More than 400 people have been arrested since protests began in late November after the government announced it would delay the South Caucasus country’s bid to join the European Union.
The decision outraged many in Georgia, where the idea of EU accession is popular. Over 100 serving diplomats signed an open letter in protest and several ambassadors resigned their posts.
Many demonstrators wear gas masks and improvised face coverings to avoid being identified and police in the capital Tbilisi have used water cannon and tear gas against them.
Some have hurled fireworks at police. Others have used lasers to try to dazzle police and CCTV cameras outside the parliament building on Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare.
Dozens of people, including police officers, have been injured. Some 30 people face criminal charges, with two leaders of the pro-EU opposition behind bars.
The EU ambassador to Georgia said this week the police’s treatment of demonstrators was unacceptable and could trigger sanctions from Brussels.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has defended the police’s response and the interior ministry says more than 150 law enforcement personnel have been injured.
Rights groups have raised alarm about attacks on opposition politicians, activists and some journalists by gangs of masked men in black.
They say the crackdown is without recent precedent in Georgia, traditionally one of the more pro-Western and democratic of the former Soviet republics.
Georgia’s parliament is set on Saturday to elect a president to replace Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of the governing party.
The only candidate nominated is Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former governing party lawmaker with anti-Western views.
($1 = 2.7750 laris)
(Reporting by Felix Light; Writing by Lucy Papachristou)
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