The first entries in the registry of “foreign agents” appeared a month after the Georgian Constitutional Court completed preliminary hearings on suspending the law, with no decision yet made by the court. As of October 2, twelve organizations have been listed, with more expected to be added gradually.
The special financial reporting department of the Ministry of Justice is verifying the documents of those who have voluntarily applied for registration. Only after their publication will the Ministry of Justice “forcibly” register the others who refused to comply with the law and impose heavy fines on them, unless the Constitutional Court intervenes, which might happen to be too late.
“The failure to rule on the case makes the activities of NGOs more difficult, because they have to do their daily work and at the same time think and mobilize resources to defend themselves… which, of course, is an obstructive factor for NGOs and media organizations to work freely,” said Giorgi Burjanadze, the former deputy of the Public Defender, who was one of the representatives of the president’s lawsuit during the preliminary hearing of the court.
Judge Vasil Roinishvili stated that no decision has been made yet, as the court is still reviewing the admissibility of the alleged constitutional violations. However, he did not say anything about the possibility of suspending the law.
“The Court should have already issued the ruling because it was a preliminary session,” said Eka Beselia, lawyer and one of the representatives of the President’s lawsuit before the Court, adding that the admissibility of the lawsuits and the temporary suspension of the law are the issues that are supposed to be decided “immediately”.
A month ago, the Constitutional Court held a three-day preliminary hearing on the lawsuits against the Foreign Agents Law. The plaintiffs – President Salome Zurabishvili, 121 civil society and media organizations, opposition MPs, and two independent journalists – sought the ultimate repeal of the law, but first – its temporary suspension before the final ruling. All argued that enforcement of the law would cause “irreparable harm” that the Court could (and should) prevent in order to protect the country’s Constitution.
The plaintiffs stated that labeling organizations as “foreign agents” based on their foreign funding would stigmatize them and, together with heavy fines, hamper their activities, eventually leading to restrictions on their freedom of expression and, ultimately, to a crackdown on civil society, similar to the scenario that has developed in Russia after 2012. They also noted that the law has already halted Georgia’s EU integration, in violation of Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, which requires the constitutional bodies to support integration into the EU and NATO.
The Court hearing coincided with the deadline for organizations to register as foreign agents. As the court has not (yet) made a decision, the relevant bodies have moved on to the next stages, the verification of documents and their publication. The special register contains the financial statements of the listed organizations, along with the names of donors and the personal data of employees, including their bank accounts and salaries. According to official data, the 476 organizations voluntarily applied for registration. While their documents are being checked, the inspector can ask for additional information, including sensitive information such as the political preferences or sexual orientation of its staff members. Although they vow not to publish such details, the state body still gains access to them.
The verification process is supposed to take time, and only after that will the Ministry begin “forced” registration and impose fines on those who do not comply with the law, something the Constitutional Court can still stop.
“Every day the organizations are in a regime of [waiting] for the monitoring to begin, which can happen at any time and cause irreparable damage that the Constitutional Court will not be able to repair,” said Nona Kurdovanidze, the head of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, which refused to register as such a foreign agent.
Beyond Foreign Agents Law is “Anti-Corruption” Bureau
Despite a month-long respite from practical concerns about the threat of Kremlin-inspired legislation to Georgia’s civil society, the government appears to be using other means to crack down on dissent. Recently, the Anti-Corruption Bureau targeted two election monitoring organizations – Transparency International-Georgia and Vote for Europe – classifying them and their leaders as “political actors with declared electoral objectives” for their voter mobilization efforts, until the same Bureau, at the Government’s unexpected request, reversed its decision, citing “national concerns,” but remained defiant in claiming that the CSOs are not transparent and that both targeted organizations still have electoral objectives.
“The fact that TI-Georgia has declared electoral objectives and is openly conducting a canvassing and propaganda campaign against the ruling party, using financial and other material resources for this purpose, is clear to any objective observer,” PM Kobakhidze said in his October 1 statement, but called on the Bureau to reverse its decision to avoid “external manipulation” of the elections.
Although the Bureau accommodated the request, Kuprashvili still accused TI-Georgia and other civil society organizations as a whole of lacking transparency. “They do not want to reveal to society for what purpose tens of millions of laris are being spent,” Razhden Kuprashvili said on October 2.
A Larger Trend Against Election Observers?
The Anti-Corruption Bureau does not appear as the only instrument. The Georgian Dream government itself questions the credibility of election observers, either by directly labeling them as “political actors” (though it officially reversed this later, the rhetoric and accusations persist) or by associating them with opposition parties, thereby suggesting they will be biased on election day.
Recently, the GD presented a so-called “study” accusing more than half of the registered observers of “affiliation” or “support” to opposition parties, thus casting doubt on their impartiality. The basis for such accusations, as presented by GD, were the personal contacts and even photographs between the members of the opposition parties and the CSOs, not to mention that they are critical of the government.
The Constitutional Court has yet to make its decision. In the meantime, local civil society continues to face attacks and discrediting rhetoric from the government. Of particular concern is the ability of organizations to monitor 26 October – the big election day.
Also Read:
- 09/09/2024 – PM Kobakhidze Announces Government Grant Fund for CSOs Registered in Foreign Agents Registry
