UPDATE - Georgian parliament passes controversial foreign agents bill

UPDATES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Georgian parliament on Tuesday passed in the third and final reading of the draft bill On Transparency of Foreign Influence, introducing control over foreign financing of non-governmental organizations in the Caucasian state.

The session was live-streamed on the parliament's website. Despite escalated tensions that even led to a physical confrontation between supporters and opponents of the proposed legislation, the bill was passed.

With 84 votes for and 30 against, the bill has passed, parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili announced.

Earlier in the day, the parliamentary proceedings were abruptly halted due to a physical altercation among lawmakers as they continued debate over the foreign agents bill.

Levan Khabeishvili, leader of the United National Movement opposition party, accused Dmitry Samkharadze, his counterpart from the ruling Georgian Dream party, of instigating violence against opponents of the bill in the streets of Tbilisi. In response, Samkharadze hurled a water bottle at Khabeishvili, sparking a scuffle between them and involving other members from both sides, including women lawmakers.

As the situation escalated, Papuashvili intervened, bringing the meeting to an abrupt halt. Once the order was restored, the lawmakers resumed their debates and were able to bring the consideration of the legislation to a logical end.

There have been protests in opposition to the legislation, which mandates that non-governmental organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad must register as entities pursuing foreign interests or face penalties.