International
Georgia rocked by clashes over ‘foreign agent’ bill
Riot police in Georgia have fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds protesting against a bill seen by the opposition as targeting media freedoms.
Demonstrators threw eggs and bottles at the police outside the parliament in the capital, Tbilisi.
The crowds retreated, but clashes continued on the main Rustaveli Avenue late on Tuesday. A number of people were reportedly injured and detained.
On 17 April, MPs gave their initial backing to the “foreign agent” bill.
Under the bill proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and independent media that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign donors would have to register as organisations “bearing the interests of a foreign power”.
They would also be monitored by Georgia’s justice ministry and could be forced to share sensitive information – or face hefty fines of up to 25,000 Georgian lari ($9,400; £7,500).
The passing of the bill in its first reading triggered a series of street protests.
On Tuesday, several protesters were injured during the clashes in Tbilisi, media reports say.
Georgia’s IPN news agency says that Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the main opposition party United National Movement, was severely beaten and taken to hospital.
Reuters news agency says that eyewitnesses saw some police officers physically attack protesters.
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A number of protesters were reportedly detained.
The Georgian authorities have not publicly commented on the injury claims.
Opponents of the bill demand that the government scrap it, arguing that it is inspired by authoritarian legislation that neighbouring Russia uses to crush dissent.
They are also concerned that the bill could be used to crush critical voices ahead of the parliamentary elections later this year.
Parallels have been drawn with an authoritarian bill which came into force in Russia in 2012, and which the Russian government has since used to marginalise voices challenging the Kremlin – including prominent cultural figures, media organisations and civil society groups, reports the BBC’s South Caucasus correspondent, Rayhan Demytrie.
She says many are also worried that such a law will derail Georgia from its path towards the much-coveted status of EU membership which – according to a poll by the US National Democratic Institute – is supported by nearly 80% of Georgians.
Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023, but now both Brussels and Washington have said the adoption of the foreign agents law would be detrimental to Georgia’s European ambitions.
A number of European leaders have warned the proposed bill is “incompatible” with European norms and values.
But the government of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze is standing firm.
Mr Kobakhidze has accused NGOs of attempting to stage revolutions in Georgia twice, of promoting “gay propaganda” and of attacking the Georgian Orthodox Church.
The government insists the bill is about ensuring transparency and rejects the notion that it is against European values – or that Russia is behind the legislation.
On Monday, Georgian Dream organised its own rally in response to the protests. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the party’s billionaire founder, addressed the crowds, strongly criticising the West.
Georgia rocked by clashes over ‘foreign agent’ bill
BBC
International
Moscow attacks Ukraine with drones, missiles
Moscow attacks Ukraine with drones, missiles
Kyiv said Tuesday that Russia had launched a barrage of drones and missiles across Ukraine, conceding that there were successful strikes in the east of the country and near the capital.
Authorities did not elaborate on what had been hit but in the wider Kyiv region, the governor said debris from a downed projectile had damaged a private home and wounded a woman.
Moscow said its forces had used attack drones and precision weapons in a “combined” assault on a military airfield and a munitions production facility, claiming that the targets were struck.
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The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 21 missiles of various types and 40 drones in the barrage, adding that seven missiles and 16 unmanned aerial vehicles were downed.
“As a result of the Russian attack, there were ballistic missile hits in Sumy and Kyiv regions,” the air force said.
Russia has launched aerial attacks on Ukraine at night almost every day since its forces invaded in February 2022, targeting military and civilian infrastructure, too, like energy facilities.
Ukraine has stepped up its own drone and missile attacks inside Russian territory in response, and urged its Western allies to supply more air defence systems.
A Ukrainian drone attack in western Russia caused a fuel spill and fire at an oil depot, a Russian regional governor said earlier Tuesday.
Moscow attacks Ukraine with drones, missiles
International
Catholic priest sentenced to 11 years for criticising his president
Catholic priest sentenced to 11 years for criticising his president
A Catholic priest in Belarus on Monday was convicted on charges of high treason for criticising the government and handed an 11-year sentence, in the first case of politically-driven charges against Catholic clergy since Belarus became independent after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
The conviction and sentencing of Rev. Henrykh Akalatovich comes as Belarusian authorities have intensified their sweeping crackdown on dissent ahead of the Jan. 26 presidential election that is all but certain to hand authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a seventh term in office.
The Viasna Human Rights Centre said Akalatovich, 64, rejected the treason charges. The group has listed him among 1,265 political prisoners in the country.
“For the first time since the fall of the Communist regime, a Catholic priest in Belarus was convicted on criminal charges that are levelled against political prisoners,” said Viasna’s representative Pavel Sapelka. “The harsh sentence is intended to intimidate and silence hundreds of other priests ahead of January’s presidential election.”
Akalatovich, who has been in custody since November 2023, was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery just before his arrest. The priest from the town of Valozhyn in western Belarus, who was critical of the government in his sermons, has been held incommunicado, with prison officials turning down warm clothing and food sent to him.
Arkatovich is among dozens of clergy — Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant — who have been jailed, silenced or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 election that gave Lukashenko a sixth term. The disputed vote that the opposition and the West said was marred with fraud triggered mass protests,. The authorities then responded with a sweeping crackdown that saw more than 65,000 arrested and thousands beaten by police.
Catholic and Protestant clergy who supported the protests and sheltered demonstrators at their churches were particularly targeted by repressions. Belarusian authorities openly seek to bring the clergy into line, repeatedly summoning them for “preventive” political talks, checking websites and social media, and having security services monitor sermons.
While Orthodox Christians make up about 80% of the population, just under 14% are Catholic and 2% are Protestants.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for nearly 30 years and describes himself as an “Orthodox atheist,” lashed out at dissident clergy during the 2020 protests, urging them to “do their jobs,” and not fuel unrest.
Lukashenko is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, allowing Russia to use his country’s territory to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Catholic priest sentenced to 11 years for criticising his president
International
Second South Korea Jeju Air flight suffers landing problem
Second South Korea Jeju Air flight suffers landing problem
A Jeju Air flight from Seoul on Monday was forced to return after encountering a landing gear problem, the airline said, a day after South Korea’s most deadly plane crash.
The Boeing 737-800 involved in the latest incident was the same model as the Jeju Air plane that crashed on Sunday killing 179 people after coming down without its landing gear engaged.
Jeju Air Flight 7C101, which departed Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport for Jeju island “at around 6:37 am, returned to Gimpo at 7:25 am” after a landing gear issue was detected shortly after takeoff, the South Korean airline said.
“Shortly after takeoff, a signal indicating a landing gear issue was detected on the aircraft’s monitoring system,” Song Kyung-hoon, head of the management support office at Jeju Air, told a news conference.
“At 6:57 am, the captain communicated with ground control, and after taking additional measures, the landing gear returned to normal operation. However, the decision was made to return to the airport for a thorough inspection of the aircraft.”
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Local media reported that 21 passengers chose not to board an alternate flight to Jeju, citing concerns over safety and other reasons.
Jeju Air’s 41 plane fleet includes 39 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Seoul said on Monday it would conduct a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 planes in operation in the country, with US investigators, possibly including from plane manufacturer Boeing, joining the probe into the crash.
“We are reviewing plans to conduct a special inspection on B737-800 aircraft,” said Joo Jong-wan, head of the aviation policy bureau at the South Korean transport ministry.
Joo added that the government plans to “implement rigorous aviation safety inspections in response to the (landing gear) incidents”.
In Sunday’s crash at Muan, the Boeing 737-800 carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea made a mayday call and belly-landed before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames.
Everyone on board Jeju Air Flight 2216 was killed, save two flight attendants pulled from the wreckage.
Second South Korea Jeju Air flight suffers landing problem
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