Shame Movement registers in registry of organisations pursuing interests of foreign power

 Civil movement Shame on Friday registered in the registry of organisations pursuing interests of a foreign power at the National Agency of Public Registry of the Justice Ministry of Georgia, the movement said.

Giorgi Mzhavanadze, the Executive Director of the Shame Movement, noted the status of an “agent” was not stipulated by a new version of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, adopted by the Georgian Parliament in May, and added  “thus the registration or non-registration does not determine whether the organisation will receive the agent status or not".

The members of the movement emphasised they decided to register in order, “not to lose” existing resources and “not to pay” a fine provided by the law, which, as they say, is a “colossal amount” and because of this the Shame Movement “cannot  go bankrupt”.

Shame Movement is a civil movement based in Georgia that was founded in 2019, after a year-long unceasing protest against the ruling Georgian Dream party.

At a session of the ongoing Constitutional Court hearings of lawsuits submitted against the foreign influence law, Tamar Tkeshelashvili, the First Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia and the curator of the Registry, on Friday said 360 organisations had applied for registration and added that the compliance with the law “does not create any danger” for the organisations.

The Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence requires non-commercial entities and media outlets in the country to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.