Riot police move in with water cannon after protesters break through barriers

Crowds of demonstrators are reacting angrily to the passing of a divisive new "foreign agents" bill, which critics believe will limit democratic freedoms. Watch live scenes from outside parliament by pressing play below.
Former Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili has called the new foreign agents bill a "joke" and a "replica" of a similar bill introduced by Vladimir Putin to "control his own society" in Russia.

He says the Georgian people will "not fall under that mistake" and protesters are standing "firm, calm, peaceful and for freedom".

"We will not let them prevail. We will overcome," he tells Sky News.

Asked what kind of battle lays ahead, Mr Margvelashvili says it will be "long" but "peaceful".

"It will take lots of our energy," he says.

Making a comparison to protests against the Soviet Union ahead of its collapse over three decades ago, he says: "Firmly, steadily standing on the moral side destroys all the powers that are with with the government.

"Standing firm, standing for ideals, standing for for your nation."
The UK's Europe minister Nusrat Ghani has called the scenes in Georgia "shocking" as she urges "restraint on all sides".

"Today the Georgian parliament again voted in support of the law on transparency of foreign influence. Like our partners, the UK strongly opposes the introduction of this legislation," she said in a statement.

"This draft law and the accompanying orchestrated intimidation of protestors are not in line with the democratic values of a NATO aspirant country and fundamentally risk derailing Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

"As I said to the Georgian ambassador when we spoke earlier today, we are watching with deep concern. I now urge the government of Georgia to change course and withdraw this legislation."
Those in power in Georgia are trying to turn the country's upcoming elections into a "Russian-style" event, a former diplomat has said.

Speaking to Sky News, Vasil Sikharulidze, former Georgian ambassador to the US, said the government is trying to undermine "every single institution" that can guarantee a fair election in October.

"They are trying to cancel any possibility for the fair elections and turn it into the Russian style elections.

"One cannot call an election what is happening in Russia. - that's [what] they would like to introduce here," he says.

Mr Sikharulidze says the Georgian leadership is trying to "radicalise" a "tiny part" of the population that believes in its "craziness".
One protester says Georgian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili is trying to bring Russian influence into the country - and she vows it will "never happen".

Wearing a helmet and a gas mask around her neck, the protester says those who have taken to the streets are going to win "this war".

"No one is going to leave this place here today," she says, adding that the proportion of the Georgian population who are pro-Western are going to "win this battle".

Asked what happens next, she says she hopes Georgia's strategic partners will impose "strict measures" on Mr Ivanishvili and his close circle.

"We believe that the United States and the Europeans are going to put this measures very, very soon," she says.