A group of Georgian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said they were preparing an appeal to the Georgian constitutional court against a “foreign agent” law that has sparked a political crisis, Georgian media reported.
Georgia’s Interpress news agency reported that the coalition of NGOs was also preparing a submission to the European Court of Human Rights.
Georgian politicians on Tuesday voted to override a presidential veto of the foreign agent bill, which has sparked some of the biggest protests seen in the South Caucasus country since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The bill would require organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as agents of foreign influence, with onerous disclosure requirements and punitive fines for violations.
The vote sets the stage for the speaker of parliament to sign the bill into law in coming days, despite criticism from the US and European countries, which said the bill is authoritarian, Russian-inspired, and undermines Georgia’s pro-Western foreign policy.
The Georgian government said the bill is necessary promote transparency and safeguard Georgia’s sovereignty against what it claims is a bid by Western countries to drag Georgia into confrontation with Russia.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who opposes the bill, has called on the country’s fractious opposition to unite in opposition to the law ahead of parliamentary elections due for 26 October.
