The Parliament of Georgia is considering amendments to the Law "On Assemblies and Demonstrations" in an accelerated manner.
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The draft law prohibits participants of a gathering or demonstration from setting up a temporary structure or pitching a tent if
- Its arrangement poses a threat to the participants of the assembly or demonstration or other persons;
- It interferes with the maintenance of public order and security by the police;
- Causes disruption of the normal functioning of an enterprise, institution, or organization;
- It is not related to the gathering or demonstration.
According to the draft law, the violation will lead to the confiscation of the construction or the tent and a fine of 500 GEL or confiscation and administrative imprisonment for up to 15 days. If the violator is an organizer - confiscation of the object of offense and a fine in the amount of 5000 GEL or confiscation of the object of offense and administrative imprisonment for up to 15 days.
According to the explanatory card of the draft law, on September 18, 2023, the State Security Service issued a statement, according to which a certain group of persons operating in Georgia and outside its borders are planning to stir destabilization and stage revolt in Georgia in October-December 2023. Among them, setting up a so-called tent city, erecting barricades near the central avenues and strategic objects of Georgia, and occupying and blocking the buildings of state bodies are planned. ‘’Also, based on the obtained information, planting and activating an explosive device is planned in the territory of the tent city. Taking into account the said danger, based on the positive obligation of the state defined by the Constitution of Georgia and the European Convention on Human Rights, the relevant authorities of Georgia are obliged to take all reasonable measures to prevent the above-mentioned danger,’’ the explanatory card reads. The initiators of the bill are the members of the Parliament of Georgia Anri Okhanashvili, Irakli Beraia, Givi Mikanadze, Rati Ionatamishvili, Irakli Shatakishvili, Tengiz Sharmanashvili, and Aleksandre Tabatadze.
At the briefing held on October 2, the Chairman of the ruling party Georgian Dream Irakli Kobakhidze said that the adoption of the draft law in an accelerated manner serves to prevent the threats described in the statement issued by the Security Council.
‘’We have reliable intel that revolutionary movements are planned for October, including November-December. Therefore, accelerated adoption makes sense. The opposition is clearly weak, but precisely because of this weakness, the risk of provocations and sabotage increases. We need to take preventive measures, and this draft law serves just that,’’ said Kobakhidze.
Committees on Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration, as well as Legal Affairs, have already supported the amendments.
According to human rights organizations, the draft law, if adopted, will be a new tool for violation of freedom of assembly and repression against activists.
‘’With the adoption of the draft law, the threat of arbitrary interference by the authorities in the freedom of assembly of demonstrators will increase. In the past, there have been many cases when law enforcement officers, illegally, did not allow the participants of rallies to set up their tents.
The tightening of the law does not actually serve any public interest, but creates an additional lever for punishing the participants of the rally, which will have a chilling effect on the freedom of assembly,’’ says Eduard Marikashvili, head of the Georgian Democratic Initiative organization.
According to Nona Kurdovanidze, the Chairperson of the Association of Young Lawyers, the aim of the changes is to further restrict civil rights.
Legislation already allows restrictions on freedom of assembly if it serves to protect public safety, the rights of others, and to ensure the smooth functioning of an administrative body.
In 2016, the Tbilisi City Court explained in the case brought by Saia that ‘’the right to assembly and demonstrations includes the right to choose the place, time, form, and content of the assembly, with the possibility of placing temporary constructions.’’
