The Council of Europe warned Georgia that the adoption of the draft law "On transparency of foreign influence" could have a serious negative impact on the work of civil society organizations in the country.
This is stated in the letter of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunia Mijatovych, addressed to the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, "European Truth" reports.
"Such a legislative initiative raises a number of human rights concerns in light of the Council of Europe's standards on freedom of association and freedom of expression. While transparency may be a legitimate interest, it should not be achieved at the expense of the effective exercise of rights and freedoms by non-profit organizations and mass media information, as well as the implementation of their legal activities," Mijatovych said.
She called on the Parliament of Georgia to reject this or any other similar bill and to unconditionally undertake to promote diverse and active participation of citizens in public affairs, as well as to create a favorable environment for the functioning of civil society organizations and human rights defenders in Georgia.
It will be recalled that the project "On the transparency of foreign influence", which copies the Russian law on "foreign agents", was proposed by the "Power of the People" movement - a group of deputies who formally separated from the ruling "Georgian Dream", but remain with it as part of the parliamentary majority.
Later, in addition to this draft law, "Power of the People" submitted another one - "On Registration of Foreign Agents", which is even stricter than the previous one.
The EU ambassador to Georgia warned that the project "On transparency of foreign influence" contradicts EU principles.
The US State Department also expressed concern about the consequences for freedom of expression in Georgia if the proposed law on "foreign agents" is approved.
