False Choices for Georgia, Daily Brief March 31, 2025

This week, the Georgian parliament is set to vote on a new bill which introduces criminal penalties for activists and nongovernmental groups that refuse to register as “foreign agents”.

Individuals or groups will need to register as foreign agents if they operate under the vaguely defined “influence” of, or receive funding from, a foreign principal and engage in “political activities” in the interests of this principal.

It also requires them to submit to authorities detailed annual financial declarations and two copies of any public statement. Registered individuals and groups must also mark their public statements as coming from a “foreign agent.”

Sounds familiar? Well, the new bill, it is likely to replace the “foreign influence” law passed last year and has sparked huge protests in the streets of Georgia since its introduction.

What happens if activists and organizations don’t comply with this new repressive bill?

False choices only: Either you accept to be stigmatized as a “foreign agent” or you face criminal fines in the thousands. You might even face up to five years in prison.

So not only does the bill violate fundamental human rights, it will also likely force Georgia’s civil society into exile or abandoning work altogether.

The ruling party responsible for this bill, Georgian Dream, is plunging the country ever deeper into a human rights crisis.

In its rapid slide towards authoritarianism, which accelerated after the November 2024 decision to abandon the country’s EU accession, has prompted nationwide mass public protests, which continue in Tbilisi today.

The government responded to these protests in 2024 with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets against largely peaceful protesters. Police beat, detained, and tortured hundreds of protesters.

It has since amended the criminal and administrative code with abusive measures including steep fines and jail time for “verbally insulting” public officials and authorizing police to “preventively” detain a person for 48 hours if they have previously been implicated in an administrative offense.

While all these amendments are highly problematic, the new bill’s provisions clearly violate Georgia’s obligations under multiple human rights treaties to uphold the rights to freedom of association and expression.

Simply put: If this law is adopted, it could be the end of Georgia’s civil society.

Don’t let this bill pass parliament, it is a false choice for Georgia.