The Committee on Legal Affairs of the Parliament of Georgia adopted in the first reading the Georgian and American versions of the bills on agents of foreign influence. It is reported by TASS.
“Both bills were adopted unanimously,” Anri Okhanashvili, chairman of the legal committee, said after deputies voted in favor of two versions of the bill at the end of the meeting.
After adoption by the legal committee, which has been identified as the lead on these bills, the initiatives are expected to be considered in the first reading at the plenary session. As previously reported by the initiators of the bills, after the support in the first reading, they are planned to be sent to the Venice Commission for conclusion.
The meeting lasted for about 9 hours amid protests and skirmishes between the opposition and representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream party. At the beginning of the meeting, there was also a scuffle involving the head of the opposition United National Movement party, Levan Khabeishvili, who, like several other deputies, was forcibly removed from the meeting room. Protests were in the morning at the parliament building. Representatives of non-governmental organizations, political parties, as well as civil activists demanded that the consideration of the bills be stopped, since, according to them, the initiatives contradict the European course of Georgia.
In February, two versions of the Foreign Agents Bill were registered in the Georgian parliament – the Georgian version and the American version, which is a translation of the American law on the registration of foreign agents. According to the Georgian version of the document, a legal entity with more than 20% of its funding coming from abroad should be considered an agent of foreign influence. According to the document, the media can also be a foreign agent, while the initiative does not apply to individuals. The American version applies not only to legal entities, but also to individuals, it also includes criminal liability.
The bill has caused significant criticism from both the opposition and Western politicians due to the introduction of the concept of a foreign agent into the legislation. At the same time, the authors of the idea – the public movement “Power of the People” and the leaders of the ruling party “Georgian Dream” – reject the similarity with Russian legislation. According to them, the new law is needed for the transparency of the work of entities financed by representatives of foreign states.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
