Georgian Dream Accused of Influencing Venice Commission to Label Transparency of NGOs as Undemocratic

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The ruling Georgian Dream responded to the critical conclusion of the Venice Commission regarding the so-called Agents Russian Law by stating that the Commission's conclusion is saturated with political messages, lacks legal and professional justification, and contains a number of factually incorrect pieces of information.

At the briefing held in the office of the ruling party, a member of the parliamentary majority, Salome Kurasbediani, even stated that "they made the Venice Commission write that the transparency of NGOs and media is bad and undemocratic! Obviously, all this undermines the credibility of this institution and the values it is supposed to serve”.

According to Georgian Dream, the conclusion of the Venice Commission once again confirmed that "there are no legal or other arguments against the law of transparency."

"In conclusion we often find unsubstantiated and contradictory legal arguments, as well as numerous gross distortions of facts, which make the radicalization of specific groups even more new. It is therefore disappointing that the Venice Commission's platform has been used to make biased political judgments instead of professional judgment, which again and again damages the reputation of the Venice Commission.

The Venice Commission also states that the Georgian law on transparency contains similarities with Russian, Hungarian, and Kyrgyz laws. However, in the 38th paragraph of the conclusion, only three lines are devoted to this issue, and the legal reasoning about it is no longer presented and developed in the conclusion. With such a manipulative and argumentless approach, the commission is trying to stigmatize the Georgian law," said Salome Kurasbediani.

Today, May 21, the Venice Commission published an urgent opinion on the Russian Law on Agents. The Venice Commission strongly urges the authorities to repeal the law in its current form, as its fundamental flaws will lead to significant negative consequences for the right to association and freedom of expression, privacy, the right to participate in public activities, and the prohibition of discrimination. This would have a negative impact on open, informed public debate, pluralism, and democracy.

Today, on May 21, the Venice Commission published an urgent opinion on the Russian Law On Agents. The Commission strongly urges the authorities to repeal the law in its current form due to its fundamental flaws, which are expected to result in significant negative consequences for the rights to association and freedom of expression, privacy, the right to participate in public activities, and the prohibition of discrimination. Such consequences would notably affect open, informed public debate, pluralism, and democracy.

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