NPR News: 04-08-2024 10AM EDT
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Day: April 8, 2024
On April 8, Georgian activists, students, civil society organizations and media representatives held a rally in the backyard of the Parliament to protest the discussions on the Georgian Dream’s re-introduced bill on foreign agents in the Parliamentary bureau. The rally was besieged by the police who restricted the access to the Parliament for journalists representing some of the critical media.
On April 3, the parliamentary majority leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Mamuka Mdinaradze, announced the reintroduction of the draft law on foreign agents, which was dropped last year after the massive rallies on March 7-9. According to Mdinaradze, the content of the bill remains the same, the only change is in the title: the word “agent” in it has been removed and the title has been replaced with “Organization Pursuing the Interests of a Foreign Power”. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from the civil society and opposition within the country and from Georgia’s international partners.
The journalists who were denied entry all had the necessary accreditation and/or permits to enter the building and were denied entry without any specific reason. Netgazeti journalist Nestan Tsetskhladze said: “They are afraid of the free, critical voice of journalists, that’s why they are introducing this law right now at the Bureau meeting. We wanted to protest against it, just like the last time, and we will not give them the opportunity [to pass the law], no matter how much they restrict our right to enter or protest…”.
“We were not allowed in, even though many of our colleagues have special passes. And the rest of us have the permission of MPs. They are afraid that we will remind them where this law leads,” – journalist Gela Mtivlishvili, editor of the publication Mtis Ambebi, told RFE/RL.
The NGO Mediaombudsman has called on Parliament to “stop violating the rights of journalists” and is offering free legal assistance to journalists protesting the law.
Due to the high level of police mobilization, most prominent civil society organizations in Georgia have set up a hotline for people to call in case of detention, promising free legal assistance. Members of the media who were allowed to enter the Parliament reported that guards took away their blank white papers.
Another rally has already been announced to take place on April 9 at 18:00.
During the Bureau meeting today, the draft law was officially registered and it was announced that the Parliament’s Legal Issues Committee will discuss it on Friday, April 12.
Also Read:
- 08/04/2024 – Independent Media Denounces Reintroduced Foreign Agents Bill
- 06/04/2024 – US Helsinki Commission: “Foreign Agent” Legislation – Self-Sabotage of Georgia’s EU Candidacy
- 05/04/2024 – Twelve European Foreign Affairs Committee Chairs: Foreign Agents Bill a “Hostile Step”
- 05/04/2024 – Germany Warns “Foreign Influence” Draft Puts EU Membership at Risk
- 05/04/2024 – MEPs Call on European Commission to Monitor GD Decisions’ Compatibility with EU Candidate Status
- 05/04/2024 – US State Department Spokesperson: Deeply Concerned that Bill will Derail Georgia from European Path
- 05/04/2024 – PACE Co-rapporteurs Express “Deep Concern” Over Re-tabled Foreign Agents Law
- 04/04/2024 – EU: “Seriously Concerned” over Reintroduction of Foreign Agents Law
- 04/04/2024 – Risch, Shaheen Statement on Reintroduction of Foreign Agents’ Law
- 03/04/2024 – Independent Media Outlets Condemn Reintroduced Foreign Agents Bill
On April 8, the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze defended the re-tabled Foreign Agents law at the executive Government meeting, claiming that the draft is “sound” and “entirely thought-through” and it merely envisages the annual reporting on financial performance of NGOs and respective media outlets. PM Kobakhidze also attacked CSOs-Factcheck and Myth Detector, for engaging in the “censorship” of the GD-disseminated content regarding the draft law on social media.
“If you watch debates, you must have noticed that nobody can argument why transparency is bad,” PM Kobakhidze said, adding that “last year they managed to deceive a significant part of the society jeopardizing the values. Nevertheless, I am confident that they will no longer be able to do so.”
Prime Minister Kobakhidze said he believes that there is a lack of transparency in the work of NGOs, leaving society uninformed about who is being funded and for what purposes. “Misleading information is being spread as if the government and public institutions have access to information on NGO funding even now. This is not true! We have extracted information on 7 NGOs… it turns out that since 2012, they declared only about 18% of their expenditures,” disclosing no information about the purpose and the sources of the finances, according to the PM. He also claimed that the bulk of NGO expenses is not reported to the Ministry of Finance at all.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Kobakhidze further criticized Georgian civil society organizations engaged in fact-checking on Facebook, Myth Detector and Factcheck, accusing them of practicing “censorship”. He was in particular referring to the labeling of GD-disseminated content on the Foreign Agents Law as “false information” by Facebook, and said that the incident “proves their [those against the Foreign Agents law] style and values, i.e. lack of transparency” and “censorship is Europe for these people.”
Also Read:
- 08/04/2024 – More than 400 CSOs Denounce Foreign Agents Bill
- 08/04/2024 – PM Announces Large Tax Debt Relief Ahead of Elections
On April 8, Georgian activists, students, civil society organizations and media representatives held a rally in the backyard of the Parliament to protest the discussions on the Georgian Dream’s re-introduced bill on foreign agents in the Parliamentary bureau. The rally was besieged by the police who restricted the access to the Parliament for journalists representing some of the critical media.
On April 3, the parliamentary majority leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Mamuka Mdinaradze, announced the reintroduction of the draft law on foreign agents, which was dropped last year after the massive rallies on March 7-9. According to Mdinaradze, the content of the bill remains the same, the only change is in the title: the word “agent” in it has been removed and the title has been replaced with “Organization Pursuing the Interests of a Foreign Power”. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from the civil society and opposition within the country and from Georgia’s international partners.
The journalists who were denied entry all had the necessary accreditation and/or permits to enter the building and were denied entry without any specific reason. Netgazeti journalist Nestan Tsetskhladze said: “They are afraid of the free, critical voice of journalists, that’s why they are introducing this law right now at the Bureau meeting. We wanted to protest against it, just like the last time, and we will not give them the opportunity [to pass the law], no matter how much they restrict our right to enter or protest…”.
“We were not allowed in, even though many of our colleagues have special passes. And the rest of us have the permission of MPs. They are afraid that we will remind them where this law leads,” – journalist Gela Mtivlishvili, editor of the publication Mtis Ambebi, told RFE/RL.
The NGO Mediaombudsman has called on Parliament to “stop violating the rights of journalists” and is offering free legal assistance to journalists protesting the law.
Due to the high level of police mobilization, most prominent civil society organizations in Georgia have set up a hotline for people to call in case of detention, promising free legal assistance. Members of the media who were allowed to enter the Parliament reported that guards took away their blank white papers.
Another rally has already been announced to take place on April 9 at 18:00.
During the Bureau meeting today, the draft law was officially registered and it was announced that the Parliament’s Legal Issues Committee will discuss it on Friday, April 12.
Also Read:
- 08/04/2024 – Independent Media Denounces Reintroduced Foreign Agents Bill
- 06/04/2024 – US Helsinki Commission: “Foreign Agent” Legislation – Self-Sabotage of Georgia’s EU Candidacy
- 05/04/2024 – Twelve European Foreign Affairs Committee Chairs: Foreign Agents Bill a “Hostile Step”
- 05/04/2024 – Germany Warns “Foreign Influence” Draft Puts EU Membership at Risk
- 05/04/2024 – MEPs Call on European Commission to Monitor GD Decisions’ Compatibility with EU Candidate Status
- 05/04/2024 – US State Department Spokesperson: Deeply Concerned that Bill will Derail Georgia from European Path
- 05/04/2024 – PACE Co-rapporteurs Express “Deep Concern” Over Re-tabled Foreign Agents Law
- 04/04/2024 – EU: “Seriously Concerned” over Reintroduction of Foreign Agents Law
- 04/04/2024 – Risch, Shaheen Statement on Reintroduction of Foreign Agents’ Law
- 03/04/2024 – Independent Media Outlets Condemn Reintroduced Foreign Agents Bill
On April 8, the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze defended the re-tabled Foreign Agents law at the executive Government meeting, claiming that the draft is “sound” and “entirely thought-through” and it merely envisages the annual reporting on financial performance of NGOs and respective media outlets. PM Kobakhidze also attacked CSOs-Factcheck and Myth Detector, for engaging in the “censorship” of the GD-disseminated content regarding the draft law on social media.
“If you watch debates, you must have noticed that nobody can argument why transparency is bad,” PM Kobakhidze said, adding that “last year they managed to deceive a significant part of the society jeopardizing the values. Nevertheless, I am confident that they will no longer be able to do so.”
Prime Minister Kobakhidze said he believes that there is a lack of transparency in the work of NGOs, leaving society uninformed about who is being funded and for what purposes. “Misleading information is being spread as if the government and public institutions have access to information on NGO funding even now. This is not true! We have extracted information on 7 NGOs… it turns out that since 2012, they declared only about 18% of their expenditures,” disclosing no information about the purpose and the sources of the finances, according to the PM. He also claimed that the bulk of NGO expenses is not reported to the Ministry of Finance at all.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Kobakhidze further criticized Georgian civil society organizations engaged in fact-checking on Facebook, Myth Detector and Factcheck, accusing them of practicing “censorship”. He was in particular referring to the labeling of GD-disseminated content on the Foreign Agents Law as “false information” by Facebook, and said that the incident “proves their [those against the Foreign Agents law] style and values, i.e. lack of transparency” and “censorship is Europe for these people.”
Also Read:
- 08/04/2024 – More than 400 CSOs Denounce Foreign Agents Bill
- 08/04/2024 – PM Announces Large Tax Debt Relief Ahead of Elections
Mike Turner, the Ohio Republican, echoes a similar claim made recently by another rightwing American lawmaker
Mike Turner, the chairperson of the US House intelligence committee, says some of his fellow Republicans are “absolutely” repeating Russian propaganda on the chamber floor, echoing a similar claim made recently by another rightwing American lawmaker.
“It is absolutely true we see, directly coming from Russia, attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor,” the Ohio congressman told CNN’s State of the Union show.