Venice Commission rejects Georgian law on foreign agents: how the ruling party of Georgia reacted
Kyiv • UNN
The Venice Commission has called on Georgia to repeal the Foreign Agents Act, criticizing it as an obstacle to freedom of assembly, expression, privacy and public participation, leading to the stigmatization and destruction of NGOs and media outlets that receive foreign funding, which ultimately harms open debate, pluralism and democracy.
The Venice Commission has called on the Georgian authorities to repeal the law on foreign agents in its current form. The Ruling Party of Georgia stated that it does not accept criticism. reports UNN with reference to "News Georgia".
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The current version of the law "on transparency of foreign influence" creates obstacles to freedom of Assembly and expression, the right to privacy, the right to engage in public affairs and the Prohibition of discrimination, the commission said in its conclusion.
It is also noted:
The law, which appears to be aimed at ensuring transparency, leads to the stigmatization and ultimately destruction of non-governmental organizations and media outlets that receive even a small portion of funding from abroad. ;
There is a serious risk that organizations and media outlets that criticize the government will suffer. "Getting rid" of them will negatively affect open public debates, pluralism and democracy;
Georgian legislation already requires NGOs and the media to report, in particular, on sources of funding. No convincing explanation has been given as to why this is not enough to ensure transparency. But if this is the case, the Georgian authorities could simply make adjustments to the existing standards.
The Venice Commission points out that it has previously evaluated the legislation "on foreign agents" in the Russian Federation, Hungary and Kyrgyzstan, as well as issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The commission writes that the law initiated in Georgia contains "a lot in common" with the legislation of these countries.;
The commission regrets that the law "was adopted in accordance with a procedure that left no room for genuine discussion and consultation on the merits, which was an open disregard for the concerns of a significant part of society.
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The ruling party of Georgia said that it does not accept criticism of the Venice Commission of the law "on transparency of foreign influence".
"The commission's conclusions are parodox. The Venice Commission's platform was used for biased political assessments instead of professional judgments," parliamentary majority spokeswoman Salome Kurasbediani said at an emergency briefing at the Georgian Dream Office.
According to her, the commission's conclusion consists of unsubstantiated arguments and gross distortions of facts.
At the same time, Georgian media note that the first reaction to the decision of The Venetian woman was not from the top officials of the ruling party. Salome Kurasbediani was not a media personality before.
