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A Proposed Law Targeting ‘Foreign Interests’ in Georgia Riles the Opposition

B-Dubs

B-Dubs

That's some catch, that catch-22
General Manager
Oct 25, 2017
33,472
Opponents of the measure, which resembles a Russian law that Moscow has used to crack down on dissidents, say it could undermine efforts for Georgia to join the European Union.
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For the past month, the Georgian capital of Tbilisi has been engulfed in turmoil. Protesters have taken to the streets of the city night after night. A fistfight broke out between legislators in the country's Parliament. And over the weekend, there were clashes between police and protesters at a large demonstration in the center of the city.

The trigger for the unrest was a decision early this month by the governing party, Georgian Dream, to push a bill through Parliament that the pro-Western opposition believes could be used to crack down on dissent and hamper the country's efforts to join the European Union.

The draft law would require nongovernmental groups and media outlets that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign sources to register as organizations "carrying the interests of a foreign power" and provide annual financial statements about their activities. Violations would incur fines equivalent to more than $9,000.

The government backed down on a previous attempt to pass the law last year after facing massive protests, but this time appears determined to push it through Parliament.
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The worry is this would be the sort of law that could be used to outlaw dissenting parties, like they have in Russia.

The legislation resembles a similar measure that Moscow implemented in 2012 that has been used as a heavy-handed tool to stifle and stigmatize anti-Kremlin advocacy groups and media organizations. Critics say that one of the aims of the bill, which they call "the Russian law," is to align Georgia, a former Soviet country of 3.6 million, more closely with Moscow.

Similar measures have been adopted by two other former Soviet nations, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
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More than 450 Georgian NGOs and media organizations have signed a petition against the law, including the Georgian branches of the corruption watchdog Transparency International and the Save the Children charity.

The government — which has been controlled by Georgian Dream since 2012 — says the bill is simply a measure aimed at making foreign funding more transparent. The party says the legislation was modeled on an American law dating to 1938 and other similar measures passed or proposed by European and other Western countries.

The first draft of the new bill was approved by lawmakers on April 17. The bill is unlikely to be signed into law before the end of May because legislators will probably have to override an expected veto by the country's president, Salome Zourabichvili. Ms. Zourabichvili, whose duties are largely ceremonial in Georgia's parliamentary system, was endorsed by Georgian Dream when she was elected in 2018 but she later became a fierce critic of the ruling party.
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Basically, there's been huge protests happening over there as a direct result of this bill even being considered again. The whole thing has turned into fight fights in parliament and cops using tear gas on protestors. It's all absolutely insane to see.
 
Slayven

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
94,215
jesus Dubs, you scared the shit out of me. But says a lot when i thought it could happen here
 
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