Fundamental clause in US law “intentionally distorted’ in Georgian foreign agents bills

The members of the Georgian parliamentary majority have “intentionally distorted” a fundamental clause in the US legislation on the foreign influence in their own  bills, EaP CSF Georgian National Platform NGO said on Sunday.  

 

The comment came on the heels of ongoing protests around the bills by former members of the ruling Georgian Dream party who still remain in the parliamentary majority, envisaging the registration of domestic NGOs and media organizations as foreign agents if they receive more than 20 percent of their incomes from abroad. 

 

The NGO said the “American version of the bill” – one of two bills proposed by the Georgian MPs – “intentionally omits a paragraph from the authentic American legislation” that allows the US president to provide a list of the country’s partner states that should not be referred as foreign agents.  

 

The NGO claimed the omission of the clause under the name of “exceptions” had “completely changed” the content of the “American edition of the Georgian bill’ and created an “uniform approach to hostile and allied countries”. 

 

“This intentional distortion of authentic American law damages Georgia’s relations with its strategic partners [the US]. This once again makes it clear the bills must not be approved with their first reading”, said the NGO. 

 

The bills are set to be discussed by the legal affairs committee in the parliament on Monday, with law enforcement present at the scene due to protests. 

 

The US and almost all country’s partners and international organizations have called on the Georgian parliament to “drop the bills’” that were expected to “stigmatize and restrict” the activities of domestic organizations funded by western donors. 

 

The ruling party says it backs  the bills, citing them as “democratic and in full accordance with human rights international standards”, ahead of the EU’s forthcoming decision on Georgia’s membership candidate status.