TBILISI, July 22. /TASS/. Georgian President Salome Zourabishvili's lawsuit in the Constitutional Court against the law on foreign agents will fail, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.
"I think this lawsuit has no chance. It is just impossible to prove that transparency is bad. It is wrong in legal terms. It is impossible to prove it," Kobakhidze told Georgian journalists.
On July 15, it became known that Georgian President Salome Zourabishvili would challenge the law on foreign agents in the Constitutional Court.
The Georgian legislature passed a bill On Transparency of Foreign Influence, also known as the foreign agent bill, in the third reading on May 14. President Salome Zourabichvili vetoed the law on May 18, but parliament overrode her veto on May 28.
Non-governmental organizations warned that they would not register if the law is passed because they object to the idea of branding themselves as organizations promoting the interests of a foreign entity. The ruling party however insists that they are being classified correctly since these organizations are financed from abroad. The only thing being asked of them is that they be financially transparent.
The law applies to non-government organizations and mass media outlets that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. They will be obliged to submit their tax returns to the justice ministry each January. Otherwise, they will be fined 25,000 lari (over $9,200). If the income declaration is not filed after the fine is levied, they will have to pay 20,000 lari (over $7,400) for each extra day that they do not comply.