The NGOs say they are willing to pay sanctions under “Russian law… which no one will obey”.
Hundreds of NGOs in Georgia have decided to challenge the country’s controversial “foreign influence” law.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, around 200 non-governmental organizations said they would not comply with the legislation, which has been criticized for reflecting Russian laws used to stifle dissent and threaten Georgia’s ambitions to join the European Union.
The statement was made one day after the country’s parliament overrode the presidential veto of the law, whose approval sparked weeks of massive protests. Opponents fear that, in addition to limiting the work of NGOs, the legislation will restrict media freedom and obstruct Georgia’s chances of joining the EU.
The law requires media outlets, NGOs and other non-profit groups to register as “advocating the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.
“Russian law will not work in our country! It will continue to be a piece of paper, which no one will obey”, said the NGOs in the statement.
They claimed that, by adopting the law on orders from Moscow, the Georgian authorities “consciously created a threat to the economy, international reputation, civil order and peace of our country”.
“Our protest and struggle will continue until this law is repealed!” the statement continued.
The government says the law is necessary to contain the damage caused by what it sees as foreign actors trying to destabilize the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people.
Many Georgian journalists and activists argue that their true aim is to stigmatize them and restrict debate ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
“[The] Russian law endangers election monitoring,” the statement said. “But we, Georgia’s civic organizations, promise to defend elections and the votes of every citizen.”
The NGOs said they plan to help everyone affected by the law, paying fines and providing lawyers for those detained.
Failure to register by those required to do so will result in an initial fine of 25,000 laris (almost US$9,230).
The authorities will also register the organization without asking for your agreement. Such registration will require the submission of a financial statement. Failure to do so will result in a fine of 10,000 laris ($3,690).
Any continued “disobedience” found during a check the following month will result in a fine of 20,000 laris ($7,380). This penalty can then be repeated every month.
“Our lawyers will fight in national and international courts. We will collect money to pay each other the fines imposed on us out of love for Georgia and the fight for freedom,” the NGOs said in their statement.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
