As the people of Georgia continue to rally against their government's strict measures.foreign agents” law, UK trip-hop collective Mass attack joins them in protest.
In a message shared with the band Instagram stories on Wednesday morning (June 12), Massive Attack announced that they will cancel their July 28 show in Georgia due to what the group called “the government's attack on basic human rights.”
“At this time, the performance at the state-run Black Sea Arena could be seen as an endorsement of the violent suppression of peaceful protests and civil society,” the message said. “Beatings, arrests, threats and violence against peaceful protesters, activists and opponents, along with laws that tarnish civil society and deny LGBTI rights, go against everything we stand for.”
In recent weeks, protests have broken out across Georgia in response to the government's recently passed “foreign agents” law, which requires media and non-profit organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as foreign agents that act in the interest of a foreign power. While President Salome Zourabishvili formally vetoed the bill on May 18, claiming it went against Georgia's constitution, the Georgian Dream party overrode the veto shortly after, passing it bill.
Opponents of the law point to its similarity to Russia's own crackdown foreign agents lawand argue that its implementation will affect Georgia's chances of joining the European Union, which the vast majority of citizens support.
Closing their statement, Massive Attack said the band members “stand in solidarity” with the protesters. “[We] they feel that it is their voices that should be heard and their struggle that should be under the international spotlight,” the collective wrote. “We will come back and play with you free. #ProtecttheProtest”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/massive-attack-cancels-georgia-show-protest-1235707890/