- summary
- April 1, 2025: Georgian Parliament passes new Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Signed into law April 2. Enters into force June 1, 2025. The law compels individuals and organizations receiving foreign funding to register as 'foreign agents' if they engage in vaguely defined 'political activity.' CRITICAL ESCALATION FROM 2024 VERSION (GEO-007): introduces criminal liability — up to five years imprisonment for non-compliance. Aim documented by ProtectDefenders: 'to stigmatise, silence, and criminalise civil society and independent media.' May 2025: multiple human rights defenders report home searches and judicial pressure as enforcement begins. Related enforcement — Mzia Amaghlobeli, director of independent broadcaster Publika, prosecuted for 'disobeying police orders' in the course of journalistic work. July 11, 2025: Reporters Without Borders and partners publish joint appeal denouncing political motivations behind her prosecution, calling it emblematic of growing judicial harassment of independent media. Organizations face stark choice: accept foreign agent label, shut down, or risk prosecution.
- country
- Georgia
- date text
- 01/04/2025
- entities
- Georgian Dream (legislative authorization and signing); Georgian Parliament (passage); Georgian prosecutor's office (Amaghlobeli prosecution); RSF / international community (doc…
- entity type
- Government Official
- id
- 811
- name
- Georgian Dream (legislative authorization and signing); Georgian Parliament (passage); Georgian prosecutor's office (Amaghlobeli prosecution); RSF / international community (documentation)
- role
- actor
- All civil society organizations and individuals receiving foreign funding and engaging in 'political activity' — vaguely defined. Estimated sector-wide impact. Named: Mzia Amagh…
- entity type
- Sector
- id
- 812
- name
- All civil society organizations and individuals receiving foreign funding and engaging in 'political activity' — vaguely defined. Estimated sector-wide impact. Named: Mzia Amaghlobeli (director, Publika independent broadcaster) prosecuted under related enforcement. Georgia ranks 114/180 in RSF 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
- role
- target
- Georgian Dream (legislative authorization and signing); Georgian Parliament (passage); Georgian prosecutor's office (Amaghlobeli prosecution); RSF / international community (doc…
- sources
- citation
- ProtectDefenders.eu, July 28, 2025 (https://protectdefenders.eu/georgias-crackdown-on-civil-society-deepens-as-foreign-agents-law-comes-into-force/); RSF July 11, 2025 (Amaghlobeli joint appeal)
- tactics
- Foreign Agent Legislation
- label
- Foreign Agent Legislation
- code
- TC-23
- needs review
- false
- role
- primary
- Legislative Operationalization
- label
- Legislative Operationalization
- code
- TC-18
- needs review
- false
- role
- secondary
- Foreign Agent Legislation
- narratives
- Foreign Agent / Foreign Influence
- label
- Foreign Agent / Foreign Influence
- code
- NF-01
- needs review
- false
- role
- primary
- Sovereignty Protection / State Security Infrastructure
- label
- Sovereignty Protection / State Security Infrastructure
- code
- NF-10
- needs review
- false
- role
- secondary
- Foreign Agent / Foreign Influence
- campaign ids
- campaign phase
- Phase 5: Systemic Assault
- channels
- Official/Regulatory
- consequence category
- Legal/Administrative
- created at
- 2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00
- date precision
- day
- escalation
- 5
- harm track
- Track 1 — Legal/Administrative
- id
- GEO-023
- institutional consequence
- Criminal liability (5-year imprisonment) attached to civil society registration failure; sector-wide forced choice: register as foreign agent, shut down, or face prosecution; Publika director prosecuted; Georgia drops to 114/180 RSF Press Freedom Index 2025; triggers wave of CSO and journalist exile (see GEO-024).
- notes
- GEO-CAMP-001. Escalation of GEO-007 (2024 FARA — TC-23/TC-18). The 2025 FARA is analytically distinct from the 2024 version: criminal liability is qualitatively new. TC-23 / TC-18 maintained — TC-18 secondary for urgency/fast-track legislative procedure. Cross-country pattern: GEO-023 (Georgia FARA 2025 + criminal liability) follows BIH-041 (April 2026 BiH AML Instructions) and precedes the SRB foreign agent law submission (December 2024). The criminal liability threshold is the highest in the documented database. Mzia Amaghlobeli case: TC-39 could apply but retained here as enforcement incident under FARA context.
- occurred on
- 2025-04-01
- trigger type
- TR-06: Legislative Milestone
- updated at
- 2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00
- version
- 1
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