Georgian NGOs: 'We won’t live under Russian-style laws and will resist to the end'
Georgian NGOs on new grant law
In Georgia, civil society and non-governmental organisations have responded to government-proposed amendments to the Law on Grants, declaring they have no intention of living under “Russian-style laws” and will resist what they call “the persecution of the Georgian people” to the very end.
According to them, the initiative by the ruling Georgian Dream party is part of an ongoing strategy to dismantle the country’s civil society and system of social support.
The Georgian Dream party has proposed a bill requiring government approval for receiving foreign grants.
Compliance would be overseen by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Accepting a grant “without permission” would result in a fine equal to twice the amount of the grant in question.
“Today, with state institutions reduced to party appendages, the only means of protecting the people is civic solidarity and activism. In both its essence and intended outcome, this law is an act of persecution aimed at leaving citizens at the mercy of the ruling party’s repressive system and denying them support from the international community.
This initiative by Georgian Dream is part of an ongoing strategy to destroy Georgia’s civil society and public assistance system — a strategy that has so far failed, despite the adoption of ‘Russian-style laws’, persecution, and attempts to dismantle civic solidarity.
We emphasise that this law is designed to turn Georgia into a closed, isolated state in which all areas of public life are subjected to totalitarian control by Georgian Dream, while society is stripped of access to vital support from international partners and friends.
It also aims to shut down the work of independent media and civil society organisations that inform the Georgian people of rights violations committed by state authorities,”* the joint statement from the NGOs reads.
At a special briefing, former ombudsman and founder of the NGO European Orbit of Georgia, Nino Lomjaria, stated that the “illegitimate parliament” is trying to leave defenceless children, women, students, the elderly, people who have been unlawfully arrested, dismissed from work or fined, victims of violence, people with disabilities, journalists, and those working in culture, business, and other sectors.
“We will not allow Ivanishvili’s illegitimate government to decide when and how the Georgian people help one another, and we once again affirm our commitment to the Constitution of Georgia and to defending the rights and dignity of our citizens,” the NGOs stated.
