Hundreds of Georgian NGOs pledge to defy ‘foreign influence’ law
Al Jazeera
The NGOs say they’re ready to pay penalties under ‘the Russian law … which nobody will obey’.
Hundreds of NGOs in Georgia have decided to defy the country’s controversial “foreign influence” law.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, some 200 nongovernmental organisations declared that they will not obey the legislation, which has been criticised for mirroring Russian laws used to clamp down on dissent and threatening Georgia’s ambitions of joining the European Union.
The statement came a day after the country’s parliament overrode a presidential veto of the law, the passage of which has prompted weeks of massive protests. Opponents worry that, apart from limiting the work of NGOs, the legislation will restrict media freedom and obstruct Georgia’s chances of joining the EU.
The law requires media, NGOs and other nonprofit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.
“The Russian law will not work in our country! It will remain a piece of paper, which nobody will obey,” the NGOs said in the statement.
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