Will Georgia criminalize denial of occupation?

By Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

Georgy Baramidze, Georgian state minister for European integration, an ally of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, a member of parliament, has proposed a bill with severe punishments for denying the occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia.

According to the bill, an individual denying the occupation of Georgian lands by Russia publicly, online or in any other form will be punished with up to six years of jail. The same crime committed in a group would mean a sentence of 8 years. Baramidze came up with the idea after pro-Russian protests in Tbilisi.

The group Eurasian Choice protested at the old building of the Russian embassy under the “Crimea is Russia” slogan, activists reiterating that they did not consider Abkhazia and South Ossetia occupied.

The Eurasian Institute of Gulbaat Rtskhiladze organized a march on Rustaveli Avenue after the showing of a film on the annexation of Kosovo by the U.S. forces. Members of the little-known Earth – Our Home non-governmental organization gathered at the Pushkin monument. They gave journalists no positive reply when asked whether they considered Abkhazia and South Ossetia occupied. One of the activists said: “We are such a tiny state, but we speak in the language of threats and ultimatums with a neighbouring nuclear state. How can that be?”

It is unclear when lawmakers will get down to discussing Baramidze’s bill. The situation is somewhat inconvenient for the ruling Georgian Dream coalition. On the one hand, starting talks about the bill would inevitably initiate a vote. Passing such a bill can provoke criticism over disrespect of human rights. References to the law on denial of the Holocaust would hardly help, because interpretation of “foreign players” is very different.

On the other hand, all the leaders of the Georgian Dream coalition have called Abkhazia and South Ossetia occupied territories many times and refusing to vote for the bill would be taken by opponents as indirect compliance with the occupation and a concession for Moscow. Bidzina Ivanishvili’s team is often accused of being extremely loyal to the Kremlin. And such criticism is coming not only from the United National Movement, but from many NGOs as well.

According to the Georgian law on occupation, any foreigner travelling from Russia to Abkhazia and South Ossetia may be jailed for four years for illegal border crossing. The new law does not say whether it refers only to Georgians. In theory, it may affect all foreigners who have denied the occupation of Georgian territories by Russia at least once. They risk being put in jail for 6-8 years upon arriving in Georgia.