In Georgia, the law on “foreign agents” was tightened to the last reading – media

The final version of Georgia’s controversial “foreign agents” law now provides fines for individuals for not disclosing information about agents of “foreign influence”. Such changes were made in the third reading of the parliament on May 14, reports Georgia Online.

The law states that for these purposes, authorized persons of the Ministry of Justice may request personal data, including the most confidential (except for secrets provided by law), from “all persons, bodies , organization and entity.”

“Violators” face a fine of 5,000 lari ($1,800). Initially, the law did not prescribe punishment against individuals.

Non-governmental experts discovered these changes after a detailed study of the final, adopted version of the bill. However, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuaashvili, called the lawyers’ explanation “a lie.” He ensured that the law itself still did not apply to individuals. There are no plans to register them in a special register.

At the same time, he admitted that individuals could be fined if they did not provide the requested information.

As you know, the parliament of Georgia on Tuesday, May 14, finally adopted the law on the transparency of foreign influence.

Earlier, the United States warned that Georgia faced financial sanctions due to the “foreign agents” law, which was adopted by the Georgian parliament.

In addition, even before the vote, the EU expressed serious concern about the statement of the leading party of Georgia Georgian dream because of plans to legislate “on foreign agents”.

Subsequently, it emerged that there are “oppositionists” in the European Union who want such laws. In particular, Hungary said that similar changes need to be introduced in Europe, and that this should “protect the sovereignty” of EU countries.