Georgian Parliament official accuses Transparency International Georgia of lying over grants issue, using propaganda to mislead public

Giorgi Sosiashvili, the Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science, and Youth Affairs, on Saturday accused Transparency International Georgia of spreading false information and deliberately misleading the public regarding amendments to the Law on Grants, stressing that the law had nothing to do with remittances from Georgian emigrants or support for athletes and students.

In his remarks, Sosiashvili explained that the amendments to the domestic Law on Grants required non-governmental organisations to obtain prior authorisation from the authorities when they intend to receive grants aimed at influencing public or political processes.

“[The law] explicitly states that when an organisation intends to influence society - so-called non-governmental organisations - they must obtain prior permission from the authorities. What do funds transferred by emigrants to their families or the funding of athletes have to do with this? Yet through their dirty political propaganda, they are trying to mislead our society - young people, students, athletes, and scientists”, he said.

The official also addressed the issue of NGOs registered at foreign addresses, stating that the adoption of the transparency law revealed the true nature of what he called “agent forces”.

“Agent forces showed their true face when the state adopted the law on transparency. When a person fights against transparency, their nature becomes clear. That was their true face. An honest, decent, and upright person naturally cannot and will not oppose transparency. What does an honest person have to hide? The amendment to the Law on Grants serves this purpose as well: when someone wants to receive money for dark purposes and stir unrest in the country, they are obliged to ask the authorities and the state whether they are permitted to receive such grants”, he noted.

“If the state were to turn a blind eye to the inflow of these funds and allow everyone to bring in money for their dark purposes, for political propaganda, for exerting pressure on society, and for bribing people, we would no longer have a state, and our sovereignty would collapse”, Sosiashvili concluded.