There are no plans to introduce the bill on ‘foreign agents’ in Kazakhstan, Human Rights Commissioner Artur Lastayev said Friday, Kazinform correspondent reports.
«As far as I know there are no such plans [to introduce the bill]. If the issue is brought up, we will certainly carry out our examination, give it assessment and express our opinion,» Artur Lastayev said answering the questions of journalists after the meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
Lastayev added that during the meeting the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights commended the sweeping constitutional reforms spearheaded by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev aimed at building ‘a Fair Kazakhstan’.
Earlier it was announced that the State Revenue Committee of Kazakhstan is set to publish the list of entities that receive funding from abroad. It has been doing so since 2022. The said list is expected to be released on the committee’s official website following results of 1H of 2023.
It bears to remind that recently proposed bill on ‘foreign agents’ caused violent protests in Georgia. Opponents of the bill backed by the Georgian parliament took to the streets of Tbilisi to condemn the bill requiring Georgian NGOs and media organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as ‘foreign agents’ or face fines and even imprisonment. After two nights of clashes between protesters and local police the bill was dropped.
Source: Kazinform
