TBILISI, July 22. /TASS/. Georgian opposition lawmakers will lodge another suit with the country’s Constitutional Court against the foreign agents law, the Pirveli TV channel reported.
The suit will be fled by 32 Georgian parliament members. However, lawmakers with the Girchi opposition party have refused to put their signatures under lawsuit. The party’s leader, Yago Khvichia, motivated the refusal by their mistrust to the court’s objectivity.
The lawmakers insist that the foreign agent violates articles 22 (on the freedom of associations) and 78 (on the integration into Euro-Atlantic structure) articles of the Georgian constitution.
Similar suits were earlier filed with the Constitutional Court by Salome Zourabichvili and more than 100 Georgian non-governmental organizations.
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 advocating interests of a foreign force. The ruling party however insists that this is a right definition if these organizations are financed from abroad that the only thing required from them is financial transparency.
The law applies to non-government organizations and mass media outlets that receive more than of 20% of funding from abroad. They will be obliged to submit their tax returns to the justice ministry in January each year. Otherwise, they will be fined 25,000 lari (over $9,100). If the income declaration is not filed after the fine is levied, they will have to pay 20,000 lari (over $7,300) for each day of the delay.