Protests against Russian law in Tbilisi, Georgia

RedDevilQuebecois

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I have seen no thread so far. It looks like only European news outlets pay serious attention to the evolving situation at the moment while the coverage is non-existent in North America.

For the sake of context, the so-called "foreign agent" bill proposed measures that require non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and independent media to register as organisations "bearing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign donors. Critics say that bill could be used to crush critical voices ahead of the parliamentary elections later this year. And considering that Georgia received the status of EU candidate only last December with nearly 80% of the population in favor of joining the EU, people fear that the mesures would derail the country from its path towards full EU membership.

Georgia rocked by clashes over 'foreign agent' bill (BBC)









Small protest in front of the Georgian embassy in Washington DC.



You might remember this episode at the Tbilisi parliament from a little more than 2 weeks ago. It was exactly because of that bill.

 
Amazing to see them exercise their right to protest, let's hope they succeed. It's basically an election right there there's so many of them.
 
TwoSheds said:
Amazing to see them exercise their right to protest, let's hope they succeed. It's basically an election right there there's so many of them.
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They are crushing freedom of the press. Not like Israel banning any foreign outlet and killing journalist. The double standards are something
 
While the Georgian parliament is rife with pro-Kremlin cronies, the highest authority in the country still has a backbone. President Salome Zourabichvili publicly stated that she will veto that law.

 
Saw a viral tweet showing a user go from sharing photos from this protest thinking it was Georgia the state in the United States and calling it amazing to being community noted that it was Georgia the country in Europe. Then it suddenly became a CIA orchestrated march according to them.
 
Boycott said:
Saw a viral tweet showing a user go from sharing photos from this protest thinking it was Georgia the state in the United States and calling it amazing to being community noted that it was Georgia the country in Europe. Then it suddenly became a CIA orchestrated march according to them.
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And it'll always be like that for that specific segment of people. Everything is a Western coup or conspiracy.
 
VorZakone said:
And it'll always be like that for that specific segment of people. Everything is a Western coup or conspiracy.
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It's fascinating still how often the people who do it are themselves living in places like America or Britain or Canada. I don't know if there is a term for these kind of people but in some ways them telling people in other nations who believe they live under totalitarian rule and want change that they are being brainwashed to oppose it (in other words: can't think for themselves) seems, dare I say it, imperialistic.

The rationale for this particular case is the picture showed the police officer having POLICE spelt out in English, therefore it can't be the foreign country. They are going to be in a shock when they find out other countries spell out AMBULANCE in English too.
 
2cents said:
Tankies.
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Yep.

From Wikipedia said:
The term is now extended to describe people who endorse, defend, or deny the crimes committed by communist leaders such as Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. In recent times, the term has been used across the political spectrum and in a geopolitical context to describe those who have a bias in favour of anti-Western states, authoritarian states or states with a socialist legacy, such as Belarus, Cuba, China, Syria, North Korea, and Russia. Additionally, the term pejoratively describes political activists who are said to have a tendency to be favorable towards non-socialist states and political groupings with no affiliation to socialism if they are opposed to the United States, regardless of their ideology, such as Iran or Hezbollah.
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And most of those people don't have the balls to renounce all of the perks of living in the West if push came to shove.
 
VorZakone said:
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Where the hell are the mainstream media at the moment? This should be the top story at the moment with BBC and CNN sending loads of reporters on the ground.

edit: This is how 2 groups of protesters separated by a river greet each other.

 
Despite the protests, they still went ahead. Let's see how this develops.

 
Personally, I don't quite yet understand how this law would or could be used for authoritarian purposes. Anyone know more how it would work? For the sake of discussion, let's say the ruling government intends to crack down on opponents. How would this law help them exactly? What happens after they impose fines?

The draft legislation, proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, or GD, would require nongovernmental organizations and media companies that get more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" and provide financial statements about their activities. Those that fail to do so could face hefty fines.
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https://www.npr.org/2024/05/13/1250983403/georgia-protest-foreign-agents-law-russia-dissent-eu
 
Kicked off in the parliament after the vote.




Edit - new link. Old one set to private now.
 
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VorZakone said:
Personally, I don't quite yet understand how this law would or could be used for authoritarian purposes. Anyone know more how it would work? For the sake of discussion, let's say the ruling government intends to crack down on opponents. How would this law help them exactly? What happens after they impose fines?


https://www.npr.org/2024/05/13/1250983403/georgia-protest-foreign-agents-law-russia-dissent-eu
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These types of laws are generally used to intimidate and discredit civil organisations that are critical of the government. They tend to impose burdensome requirements on these organisations which then give the government the excuse to fine them into oblivion/harass them with police raids, or in an extreme case, order them to disband entirely. I'm not familiar with the details of the Georgian law but the Hungarian government's version of the foreign agents law required these organisations, for example, to display their "foreign supported" status on any and all material they publish. They were also required to publish detailed financial statements of every single transaction - and the only way to be removed from the registry was to not receive foreign funding for five years. In other words: once an org got on the list, it was going to stay there for at least five years. Imagine how easy it is to demonise organisations on that list.

For Georgia, a country still aspiring to get into the EU, it has an added significance: Hungary's version of the law was struck down by the Court of Justice of the European Union because, according to the judgment, it violated EU laws by imposing undue restrictions on the freedom of assembly and freedom of capital, and by encroaching on the right to privacy and the right to the protection of personal data.
 
Siorac said:
These types of laws are generally used to intimidate and discredit civil organisations that are critical of the government. They tend to impose burdensome requirements on these organisations which then give the government the excuse to fine them into oblivion/harass them with police raids, or in an extreme case, order them to disband entirely. I'm not familiar with the details of the Georgian law but the Hungarian government's version of the foreign agents law required these organisations, for example, to display their "foreign supported" status on any and all material they publish. They were also required to publish detailed financial statements of every single transaction - and the only way to be removed from the registry was to not receive foreign funding for five years. In other words: once an org got on the list, it was going to stay there for at least five years. Imagine how easy it is to demonise organisations on that list.

For Georgia, a country still aspiring to get into the EU, it has an added significance: Hungary's version of the law was struck down by the Court of Justice of the European Union because, according to the judgment, it violated EU laws by imposing undue restrictions on the freedom of assembly and freedom of capital, and by encroaching on the right to privacy and the right to the protection of personal data.
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Thanks.
 
They're really going ahead with this law.

Georgia president overruled as lawmakers push forward with Russia-style ‘foreign agents’ law
Georgian lawmakers on Tuesday voted to override a presidential veto on the Russia-style “foreign agents” law. The law calls for media outlets, nonprofits and other nongovernmental organizations in the country to declare that they’re “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from sources abroad.
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https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/28/geo...-lawmakers-push-forward-with-russian-law.html
 
nimic said:
It's either revolution or Russian puppet at this point.
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There are elections in October. It's really weird to implement this law just for a couple of months and risk getting voted out and the law overturned. The credibility of the current ruling party would plummet even more in that scenario.

Perhaps they want to use this law to crack down on opposition and 'steal' the election.
 
VorZakone said:
There are elections in October. It's really weird to implement this law just for a couple of months and risk getting voted out and the law overturned. The credibility of the current ruling party would plummet even more in that scenario.

Perhaps they want to use this law to crack down on opposition and 'steal' the election.
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Has to be a last ditch effort to stay in power.
 
VorZakone said:
Personally, I don't quite yet understand how this law would or could be used for authoritarian purposes. Anyone know more how it would work? For the sake of discussion, let's say the ruling government intends to crack down on opponents. How would this law help them exactly? What happens after they impose fines?


https://www.npr.org/2024/05/13/1250983403/georgia-protest-foreign-agents-law-russia-dissent-eu
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We have had a similar law in India for decades, which I don't think I was aware of until the government started shutting down many critical NGOs for misrepresenting foreign donations. So it strongly depends on how the government wants to use the law.
 
"Liberal fascism". Note, his party GD is the one that pushed through the "Russian law".

 
On the surface, chances are big that the ruling party will lose the elections in October given the massive repeated protests.

But they are doubling down.
 
If russia is involved, not sure how the winner of those elections is already not predetermined
 
Elections will be in 2 weeks. Ominous times ahead for Georgia as the ruling party shows increasingly authoritarian behavior. At the same time the economy seems to be doing well so they've got that going for them.

 
Former Milan footballer Kaladze is part of the ruling party and is saying things like this.

 
I hope somebody Kakas in all their Kaladzes. It would be a great shame for Georgia and the world if they lose their democracy.
 
Another pro-West march today in Tbilisi. Likely the last one before elections on the 26th.



 
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