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Georgian Parliament passes amendments to Law on Grants and Criminal Code on March 4, 2026 — "Foreign Agent Law 3.0" (Verfassungsblog). CRIMINALIZATION: receiving foreign funding…

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Georgian Parliament passes amendments to Law on Grants and Criminal Code on March 4, 2026 — "Foreign Agent Law 3.0" (Verfassungsblog). CRIMINALIZATION: receiving foreign funding without prior government authorization is now a criminal offense. Penalties: up to 6 years prison for unauthorized grants; 9-12 years for "money laundering for political purposes"; 8-year ban from political party membership for those working in foreign-funded organizations. SCOPE: "grant" defined to include virtually any foreign transfer — monetary or in-kind — if used to "influence any part of society" regarding domestic policy. Criminality depends not on independently wrongful conduct but on two elements: foreign link + absence of government authorization. Law extends to individuals (not just organizations). "External lobbying" criminalized — any lobbying on Georgian matters abroad. ACCELERATION METRIC: Georgia completed Russia's 7-year registration-to-criminalization trajectory in under 12 months. OCCRP: "places country's entire civil society and independent media at immediate risk of criminal prosecution." Adopted by large majority — fewer than a dozen lawmakers opposed. Oversight transferred to Georgia's Audit Office (which absorbed the Anti-Corruption Bureau). ANNOUNCEMENT TRIGGER (January 28 2026): GD announces batch on January 28 — session set for February 3. MP Kirtskhalia authorization statement: "Revolutionary processes in Georgia were funded by USAID, NED, EED. The new US administration ultimately exposed this. As of today, funding for unrest, violence, and revolutionary processes from abroad has become significantly more difficult. However, certain mechanisms and legal loopholes remain that could cost our country peace, stability, and prosperity." This statement explicitly links the law to USAID/NED closure under Trump — cross-regime playbook transfer documented. Adopted March 4 (not February 3 as announced — some provisions expanded from January announcement). President signed same day. Law published same day. Immediately enacted. PENALTY DETAIL (GYLA December 2025): Criminal charges documented include: sabotage; assisting foreign entities; financing anti-state activity. Maximum penalty: up to 15 years imprisonment in aggravated cases. GYLA: "wide range of repressive tools deployed in a coordinated manner" — legal (FARA, grants law) + financial (bank freezes, grant blocking) + criminal (AML/security charges) + administrative (data requests). Source: GYLA Human Rights Situation in Georgia 2025 (December 10 2025).
country
Georgia
date text
04/03/2026
entities
sources
  • citation
    OCCRP March 4 2026 (https://www.occrp.org/en/news/georgia-tightens-control-over-foreign-funding-for-ngos-and-media); HRW February 9 2026 (https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/02/09/georgia-initiates-laws-severely-curtailing-civil-and-political-rights); Verfassungsblog April 8 2026 (https://verfassungsblog.de/georgia-criminalization/); Amnesty International February 2 2026
tactics
narratives
campaign ids
campaign phase
Phase 5: Systemic Assault
campaigns served
channels
  • Official/Regulatory
civic response
Amnesty International condemns; HRW condemns; ISFED Director: "banned basic forms of civic activism"; EU/US condemnation; Verfassungsblog legal analysis: "Criminalization without Harm — structural gaps in criminal law theory"
consequence category
Legal/Administrative
created at
2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00
date precision
day
enabler status
Active — most recent and most severe
enabler type
Legislative Framework
escalation
5
harm track
Track 1 — Legal/Administrative
id
GEO-004
institutional consequence
Civil society financing criminalized; journalism and research potentially criminal; diaspora organizations at risk; foreign organizations barred from funding Georgian branches without approval; 8-year political ban on civil society workers
notes
STAGE 5 — SYSTEMIC ASSAULT. Most severe case in database — full criminalization. ACCELERATION METRIC: 12 months vs Russia's 7 years. Verfassungsblog analysis documents structural legal theory gap: "criminality depends not on independently wrongful conduct but on foreign link + absence of authorization." AML framing explicitly embedded: "money laundering for political purposes" — 9-12 year sentence — is the Georgian version of the NF-03 (Regulatory/AML) frame at maximum severity. This is the most complete documented case of AML framing used to criminalize civil society financing in the database.
occurred on
2026-03-04
signal ids
trigger type
TR-06: Legislative Milestone
updated at
2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00
version
1

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