Parliament outlaws production of maps violating Georgia's territorial integrity
Summary of the bill said the move was made in response to recent cases of representing the country without its occupied regions. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
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The Georgian parliament has approved a bill outlawing production of maps illustrating Georgia without its occupied regions of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and Abkhazia.
Adopted after a third round of review, the bill will introduce changes to both criminal and administrative codes of Georgia, stipulating production, transportation, promotion and use of such material as unlawful.
Going into force starting July 2, the bill will involve penalty or jail time of up to two years for the offence. The former will amount to 150 GEL ($50/€45) for individuals and 300 GEL ($95/€85) for organisations.
The bill summary said the move was necessitated by recent cases of "propaganda damaging the country" via promotion of material showing the Georgian territory without the two Russian-occupied provinces.
The publications were aimed at representing Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region as independent states and not part of Georgia, the text said.