Giorgi Kldiashvili, director of the Information Freedom Development Institute (IDFI), and the camera crew from the Formula television station were assaulted near the Swedish embassy in Tbilisi.
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A group of non-governmental organizations, including the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information, met with Sweden's Minister of International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Johan Forssell, at the embassy. Following the meeting, Giorgi Kldiashvili was giving an interview when an unknown individual verbally and physically assaulted both him and the journalists from Formula.
"With these provocations, they will not deprive us of anything; they will only hurt themselves. No to the Russian law! Yes to Europe!" Klidiashvili wrote on social media.
Today, Johan Forsel faced criticism from the leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream for expressing concern about the Russian law on so-called Foreign Agents. The Swedish minister, visiting Tbilisi, stated that the law limits the possibilities of civil society.
"We will not turn our back on Georgia. We want it to become a member of the European Union. At the same time, we are concerned about the new legislation. We are afraid that it does not correspond to the cooperation that we have and does not correspond to our views on the importance of civil society,” said Forsel.
As Maka Bochorishvili, the chairperson of the Parliament's European Integration Committee says, she does not know "what the Swedish minister has to hide" regarding Sweden's assistance to Georgia.
"I cannot tell you what is hidden here and why the Swedish minister is worried about these issues. However, to put it simply and mildly, it is very strange for the minister of one sovereign country to dictate to the parliament of another sovereign country what law is needed for the stability, development, and society of this country," said Maka Bochorishvili, one of the 83 deputies supporting the Russian law.
On May 5, in Lanchkhuti, they attacked Lado Abkhazava, an active participant in the protests against the Russian law, and his son at the entrance. On May 3, they physically assaulted young people on their way home from the rally. The police have not arrested anyone so far.
