“Criminal liability for violating FARA regulations will create preventive pressure against stateless people and destructive NGOs that have been acting as conduits for partisan ‘black money’ in the country,” parliamentary majority member Irakli Kirtskhalia told GPB First Channel.

According to Kirtskhalia, an exact copy of FARA has been transferred into Georgian legislation, though adapted to Georgian reality.

“Of course, FARA is a much stricter law. A verbatim translation has been transferred into Georgian legislation, though adapted to Georgian reality, with the same spirit. We saw what kind of uproar NGOs created over the adoption of the much more liberal and lighter Transparency Law, yet wealthy NGOs still found ways to pay fines and demonstratively refused to register. When the criminal component is introduced, this will be one of the serious mechanisms for prevention,” Kirtskhalia stated.