From our special correspondent in Tbilisi – A decisive vote on Tuesday could see the final adoption of a law, dubbed the “Russian law” by critics, that targets civil society organisations and independent media in Georgia that receive foreign funding. For ten days now, the pro-Russian government in power in Tbilisi has made no secret of its intention to use force to impose the law as a means to silence opponents.
“Enemy of the Church”, “enemy of the state”, “LGBT propagandist”, “foreign spy”… These are some slogans on posters pasted outside the home of Giorgi Oniani.
Oniani, deputy managing director in Georgia of Transparency International – a German-based NGO fighting government corruption in over 110 countries – was left feeling anxious but not surprised.
He said he was convinced that those who put up the posters acted with the complicity of the ruling authorities.
“They're the ones who put it up, who are intimidating us. They're doing everything they can to disrupt our work,” he said. “All this took place in a group of buildings that is supposed to be protected because the prime minister lives there. But we discovered that the surveillance cameras were switched off. I called the police in the early hours but they refused to come and register my complaint.”
Oniani, in his 40s and a graduate of Moscow University, spent most of his career working for the Georgian ministry of foreign affairs before becoming involved in civil society organisations that aim to monitor government action and condemn its failures to respect laws or individual rights.
These NGOs are now being targeted by the Georgian government.
After being forced to drop a similar bill last year after a public outcry, the ruling Georgian Dream party wants to pass a law requiring any organisation receiving more than 20% of its funding from abroad to register as an “organisation pursuing the interests of a foreign power”.
With Sweden and Denmark as major donors, the Georgian branch of Transparency International would fall into this category.
Adopted twice by the Georgian Parliament, the bill closely mirrors the terms of a Russian law on “foreign agents” and has provoked escalating protests from Georgians, who have been massively demonstrating in the streets of the capital Tbilisi since the beginning of April.
Initially peaceful, these demonstrations have been met with a harsh crackdown by uniformed and plainclothes police since April 30. On that day, the billionaire and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili made a rare public appearance to defend the bill and castigate the West, which he described as the “world war party” and being responsible for “LGBT propaganda”.
“Everything happened very quickly. The pace of repression has accelerated very quickly, to the point where we now feel like we're living in Belarus,” says Oniani. “You ask me how the ‘foreign influence’ law is going to affect us but it's already affecting us. It affects me and my family.”
Malicious phone calls
Nika Simonichvili, 32, a lawyer and former president of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA), also says that the crackdown on NGOs has become chilling.
“I haven't been threatened directly but colleagues who work for non-governmental organisations have been threatened in recent days. They receive phone calls. An anonymous voice tells them, ‘If you continue your work, if you continue to protest against this law, there will be bad consequences.’ Sometimes it's their family members, including their children, who receive these calls.”
For Simonichvili, there is no doubt that the perpetrators of these telephone threats “are linked to the ruling party in Georgia. Apartments have been visited and in the entrance inscriptions such as 'foreign agent' or 'traitor to the Nation' have been painted. It feels like we're back in Soviet times”.
In his view, referring to NGOs as “foreign agents” is both slanderous and harmful to Georgian citizens. “These organisations want to improve the lives of Georgians, thanks to money that comes from the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom or elsewhere.”
Simonichvili said his organisation provides free legal aid “to people without financial resources whose rights have been violated by the state”.
“Since 1994, we have helped a million Georgian citizens. Tomorrow, if this law is passed, organisations that deal with domestic violence or people with disabilities will also be branded as foreign agents," he added.
A ‘Russian law’
The ruling Georgian Dream party is intent on passing the bill at a third and final hearing expected on Tuesday.
If adopted, the text provides for a monthly fine of 25,000 lari, about €8,700, imposed on organisations refusing to declare themselves as serving the “interests of a foreign power”.
Most NGOs that receive subsidies from Western countries have announced they will not file as foreign agents under this law, which means “their resources will be confiscated by the state and they will no longer be able to work”, says Simonichvili.
Even more worryingly, some of these NGOs, including Transparency International and GYLA, are election observers in a country where there have been numerous cases of electoral fraud since independence in April 1991.
Crucial legislative elections are scheduled to be held in October. If the bill is adopted, NGOs will no longer be authorised to report on the electoral process.
With these elections, Georgia could well wind up in the orbit of its Russian neighbour. While 80% of the inhabitants of this small Caucasus country wish to join the European Union – which granted it candidate status last December – a victory for the ruling party will almost certainly see it return to being a satellite of Vladimir Putin's Russia.
“This law has a political dimension, not just a legal one. It's clear to me that the real stakes are geopolitical", Simonichvili said.
This article was translated from the original in French.
