The chairperson of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), Tamar Oniani, says that the Georgian Dream party’s newly proposed amendments to the Law on Grants are intended, in part, to drive active citizens out of civic life.
The ruling party is preparing to tighten the grant legislation further by significantly expanding the definition of a “grant.” Under the proposed changes, any monetary or in-kind resource that could influence the Georgian government, public institutions, society, or the country’s domestic or foreign policy would be classified as a grant. Such funding would require prior approval from the Georgian government.
Speaking to BMG, Oniani argued that the changes form part of a broader pattern of repression directed at civil society organizations. She said the initiative follows the same trajectory seen in recent years under the ruling party. “These newly announced changes indicate a continuation of the persecution that has been actively carried out over the past two years — not only against civil society organizations but against any active individual,” she stated.
According to Oniani, the amendments include punitive criminal sanctions that raise serious concerns in the context of Georgia’s current human rights climate. “The wide, discriminatory nature of the proposed changes, along with the inclusion of harsh criminal penalties, creates a well-founded suspicion that the goal is to expel active people from civic life,” she said.
