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NPR News: 05-17-2024 7PM EDT
“Foreign agents” bill for individuals
According to the final version of the “foreign agents” bill in Georgia, authorized officials from the Ministry of Justice will have the right to request any personal data from individuals, including confidential information such as details about their sexual life, philosophical or other beliefs, political views, membership in trade unions.
Article 8, paragraph 3 of the final version of the law requires all individuals, bodies, organizations, and institutions from whom the authorized representative of the Ministry of Justice requests this information to provide all available data.
Failure to provide the requested information will result in a fine of 5,000 lari (approximately $1,820).
In the initial version of the law, individuals were not mentioned at all; the focus was solely on organizations. However, the ruling party, “Georgian Dream,” added the corresponding amendment to the law during the third hearing, which the opposition did not attend.
“Remember the biggest lie of the government about the ‘Russian’ law: the law does not apply to individuals? In reality, the government quietly made changes to the law during the second plenary session. According to them, the law and sanctions will apply to individuals as well,” writes Saba Brachveli, a lecturer at Ilia University and a lawyer, on Meta social media.
According to the amendments:
- The Ministry of Justice will have the right to request not only all types of personal data but also confidential information;
- The Ministry of Justice will have the right to fine all individuals (including physical persons) 5000 lari [$1,800] for not providing the requested information (again, including secret information);
- The new sanction is additional and does not replace already established fines of 25, 10, and 20 thousand lari;
- Appealing the fine or the law does not exempt the obligation to pay the fine, as well as the imposition of additional fines.
“In short,” says Brachveli, “with this law, the authorities will have the opportunity to fine any organization, donor, or individual as many times as necessary until their accounts are completely frozen, and further functioning becomes impossible.”
However, according to the speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, critics of the law simply misinterpret the amendment.
“While the opposition, some media outlets, and NGOs were busy banging on tables, shouting to drown out the discussion, they did not listen to how this draft was being discussed. Regarding the issue you are talking about, it was discussed during the plenary session at the second reading. It is a lie that it talks about registering individuals, an absolute lie.
[The amendment] implies that when it is necessary to obtain information regarding specific organizations, everyone is obliged — both legal entities and individuals — to provide this information,” the speaker stated.