PROTESTERS rallying outside Georgia’s parliament against legislation that would impose draconian new restrictions on media freedom have been attacked by police, with dozens arrested.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said that 63 people had been detained on Tuesday night, when tear gas and water cannon were used to disperse the demonstration in the capital Tbilisi.

Opposition MP Levan Khabeishvili posted a picture of himself on social media with a bloodied face and heavy bruising. Members of his party said he had been assaulted by police.

Fellow opposition politician Giorgi Vashadze said that the behaviour of the ruling party and police was “completely illegal” because citizens have a right to protest peacefully.

Those arrested were taking part in the latest in a series of protests against a Bill that would require media and non-commercial organisations to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive more than 20 per cent of their funding from outside Georgia.

Opponents have branded it “the Russian law” because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatise independent news media and organisations critical of the Kremlin.

A similar measure was proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, before being withdrawn last year following massive street protests.

Police acted to break up Tuesday’s protest after demonstrators tried to block the entrances to the parliament to prevent MPs from leaving.

Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze claimed today that the protesters and leaders of the opposition party were “constantly committing violence.”

He alleged that Mr Khabeishvili had broke through a police cordon and been injured when “he resisted.”

President Salome Zourabichvili has has vowed to reject the legislation if it is passed by the parliament, but her veto can be overridden.