On 1 April, Georgia’s one-party parliament, controlled by Georgian Dream (GD), passed the new “Foreign Agents Registration Act” (FARA) that further restricts civil society and independent media ahead of the October 4 local elections.

EPDE member The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) along with more than 100 Georgian CSOs, published a joint statement calling the law an “anti-Georgian and unconstitutional” attempt to intimidate citizens with criminal prosecution

Ivanishvili’s FARA is against Georgian media and NGOs

Any act of Ivanishvili’s illegitimate parliament which restricts the Georgian people’s freedom is anti-Georgian and unconstitutional. Tightening the unenforceable Russian law to intimidate citizens with criminal prosecution is also anti-Georgian and unconstitutional.

We stated back in 2023 that after the adoption of the Russian law, it would be periodically tightened, apply to all citizens, and significantly restrict their rights – just as it happened in Russia and other authoritarian regimes. The initiation and adoption of this law meant a change in the country’s foreign policy and a betrayal of the Georgian Constitution, which Ivanishvili’s Prime Minister confirmed in his statement on November 28, 2024.

Now Ivanishvili’s government claims it will initiate a direct translation of the FARA adopted in the USA in 1938. The FARA operating in the USA does not oppose the activities of independent NGOs and free media, while Ivanishvili’s illegitimate government wants to repackage the Russian law adopted against the civil sector.

Ivanishvili’s regime is trying to suppress any manifestation of freedom. After the political arrests, raids, and repressions of more than 50 people, they want to leave children and women who are victims of violence unprotected, cut off funding for scientists, young people, and socially vulnerable families, and prevent the voices of the regions, workers, displaced persons, and people fighting for their rights from being heard.

For the third year in a row, Georgian civil society has been telling Ivanishvili that we are not going to live and work under Russian laws. Russian law, in any form, will never be Georgia’s choice. We, the signatory Georgian independent non-governmental and media organizations remain faithful to the Constitution of Georgia and our mission – to serve the Georgian people.