Georgia: ‘Foreign agents’ bill tramples on rights by restricting freedom of expression and association
Amnesty InternationalMar 07, 2023
On Thursday, Georgia's ruling party, the Dream Party, announced that it would withdraw the "foreign agents" law following several days of violent and destructive protests demanding its withdrawal.
In a statement, the ruling party said that it would "unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported, without any reservations." The decision was made to quell the violence and civil unrest caused by what the party called "lies" sewn by the "radical opposition" regarding the bill's close alignment with Russian oppressive legislation.
The Georgian Parliament needs to reject any and all legislation aimed at marginalizing and oppressing the media and organizations with foreign funding. It's clear that they're trying to discredit democracy and set human rights aside. Instead of sidelining those working for the greater good of Georgians, they should be guaranteeing and safeguarding the rights of civil society.
Though critics may be accusing Georgia of aligning its policies with Russia, this bill follows in the spirit of the US Foreign Agent's Registration Act. This effort has the full backing of the parliamentary majority as it will bring financial transparency to Georgia. Once in effect, Georgians will clearly see the lengths that the West is willing to go to forcefully drag Georgia into their aggression against Russia.
There's a 4% chance that Georgia will impose sanctions against Russia before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.