Police violence, fistfights and international criticism had no impact
Collage by Arzu Gabrieleva. Photo courtesy of OC Media. Used with permission.
Thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets to protest the controversial foreign agents bill, which was tabled last year and reintroduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party on April 3, 2024. Experts say the Georgian Dream Party is steadily derailing the country's path to joining the European Union. . After three days of massive protests and domestic and international criticism, the bill passed its first reading in parliament. Meanwhile, party leaders slammed local civil society groups, accusing them of trying to overthrow the government.
How it all started
On April 3, Georgian Dream parliamentary leader Mamuka Mdinaradze announced the decision to reconsider the bill on foreign agents. In a statement shared on Facebook, the ruling party claimed the law would “protect Georgia from artificial attempts to cause unrest in the country.”
Last year, when the ruling party announced its decision to adopt the bill, it was met with an outcry of public opinion and an international exposed to criticism.
If passed, the bill would “force foreign-funded non-governmental organizations to register as foreign influence groups,” Eurasianet reported.
Lawmakers from the ruling party claim that the law is based on a US law known as FARA (American Foreign Agents Act). However, analysis of the draft text shows that this is not the case. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) said in an assessment published last year that the bill is “fundamentally different” and has “very clear objectives and scope”. Stated.
Rather, the proposed legislation bears a striking resemblance to Russia's 2012 “Foreign Agents” Law, which has been notoriously used to suppress dissent and dissent within Russia since it took effect. The bill would require all media outlets in Georgia that receive 20% or more of their foreign funding to register as “foreign agents” and report their annual income and sources of donations.
According to local media outlet OC Media, “the law is likely to apply to the majority of non-governmental organizations operating in Georgia.” Russia's law, which has undergone several amendments since 2012, also requires foreign-funded news platforms to disclose their annual budgets. In its most recent form, the law expands the definition of a foreign agent to include almost any foreign agent, regardless of nationality or location, who engages in civic activities or expresses opinions about Russian policy or the actions of its officials. “Individuals and organizations may fall under the category of foreign agents.” They are designated as foreign agents as long as authorities claim they are “under foreign influence.” “Following the latest legal reforms that took effect in Russia in December 2022, they exclude 'foreign agents' from important aspects of civilian life,” Human Rights Watch wrote.
Therefore, international experts disagree with Georgia's ruling government's view that the bill is similar to EU and US laws. In a comparative analysis of the Georgia bill and FARA for Civil.ge, international lawyer Ted Jonas highlights key differences between the U.S. and Georgia proposed bills: historical context and who is a foreign agent and who is not. He emphasized the definition. .
“One of the most fundamental differences between the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and the proposed Georgia Foreign Agents Act lies in the historical context in which the two laws arose and to whom they are directed. The U.S. Congress adopted FARA in 1938, specifically targeting lobbying and consulting firms acting on behalf of the Nazi German government.Concerns about Soviet communists also motivated the law. '' Jonas explained. Unlike FARA, the bill introduced by the ruling party only mentions “US and EU funding of NGOs in Georgia as a source of foreign agents in Georgia.”
According to the text of the bill, a foreign agent can be a company, foundation, or individual that receives 20% or more of its funding from a foreign power. FARA defines a foreign agent as “any person (legal or physical) who is under the control of, or acts at the direction of, a foreign power, and who acts in the interests of that foreign power,” Jonas said in his analysis. explained.
There are notable differences in who FARA does not consider to be foreign agents: “Humanitarian organizations, religious, academic, scholarly, scientific, and artistic individuals and organizations, and foreign-owned media whose policies are not directed by a foreign power. Group,” allies of the United States. ” Georgia's bill would classify all of the aforementioned groups as foreign agents.
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On April 15, the Georgian parliament's legal affairs committee voted to advance the bill. That same day, protesters began to gather little by little in the morning, numbering in the thousands by mid-morning and steadily increasing throughout the day. By evening, thousands of people had gathered around Parliament House, despite police attempts to cordon off the area.
A fistfight broke out in parliament between leaders of the opposition Civic Party and the ruling party, with leader Aleko Elisashvili punching Mamuka Mdinaradze in the face. The scuffle brought the livestream of the committee session to an abrupt end.
OC Media reported that during the debate, some opposition members walked out in protest or were removed by force after opposing the bill.
Popular protests outside the parliament building continued for the next two days and spread to other Georgian cities outside the government capital, Tbilisi.
The government also prohibited online media from entering Parliament House to cover the committee.
On April 17, the bill passed its first reading. The bill will now have to go through two more parliamentary readings. Ghulam Imnadze, director of democracy and justice at the Center for Social Justice, said the date for the second reading has not yet been announced and is likely to be a long process. Imnadze said in an interview with OC Media that parliament is limited to biweekly readings, which would extend debate and possible passage into June.
Georgia President Salome Zurabichvili, who has been a vocal critic of the bill since its passage last year, has the right to veto the law. However, Congress can override the president's veto. The president made clear his intention to veto the law in an April 17 interview with the BBC, in which he said: [but] The entire strategy goes against the recommendations of the European Union. ”
Separately, Georgian President Salome Zurabichvili called the party the “Russian Dream ” was expressed.
The president's criticism of the bill has put her in the crosshairs of the ruling party. On April 17, Prime Minister Ilari Kobakhidze called the president an “agent of foreign influence.”
Local and international criticism
Meanwhile, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said at a press conference on April 10 that members of Congress who voted in favor of the bill could face sanctions.
In total, 83 members of the ruling party voted in favor of the bill during the first reading. In a statement released on April 17, U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said: Said The United States said the bill “condemns civil society organizations working to improve the lives of Georgians and media organizations working in Georgia to inform Georgians.” is “deeply concerned”.
Georgian Dream called the threat of sanctions a blackmail.
A group of Georgia's former diplomats issued a joint statement condemning the bill and accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party of obstructing the country's path to EU membership. Similar sentiments were echoed in a joint statement issued by EU High Representative Josef Borrell and Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Verhelyi.
