TBILISI -- The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe said it "strongly recommends" that authorities in Georgia abandon efforts to introduce planned "foreign agent" legislation that has been condemned in the West and led to massive street protests in the South Caucasus nation.
"The Venice Commission strongly recommends repealing the law in its current form, as its fundamental flaws will involve significant negative consequences for the freedoms of association and expression, the right to privacy, the right to participate in public affairs as well as the prohibition of discrimination," its said in its "urgent opinion" published on May 21.
The commission, at the request of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, undertook to assess the Georgia legislation, which critics say is similar to laws used in Russia to silence independent media and civil society groups.
It said it "regrets that the Georgian parliament did not wait for its opinion before adopting the law, despite the calls by the president of the Parliamentary Assembly and by the secretary-general of the Council of Europe."
The ruling Georgian Dream party, which has pushed the legislation through parliament, quickly rejected the commission’s report.
"We find many unsubstantiated and conflicting legal reasonings as well as a number of gross distortions of facts [in the conclusions], which further encourages the radicalization of specific groups," Georgian Dream member Salome Kurasbediani told a briefing.
SEE ALSO: Interview: Georgian Dream Is 'Isolated' And The 'Foreign Agent' Law Is Just 'A Way To Maintain Power'"Obviously, all this undermines the credibility of the institution and the values it should serve," she said.
The so-called foreign agent legislation -- formally the Law On Transparency Of Foreign Influence -- has been condemned by the United States, the European Union, and rights watchdogs and prompted weeks of protests that were repeatedly cracked down on violently by authorities.
The law would require media and NGOs to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.
Opponents have pointed to similar legislation used by President Vladimir Putin to crush dissent in Russia and stifle independent institutions, prompting Georgians to refer to the measure as "the Russian law" and see it as endangering the country's path toward EU integration.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who has increasingly feuded with the ruling Georgian Dream party since it endorsed her candidacy in 2018, has vetoed the bill.
However, Georgian Dream's parliamentary majority will allow it to easily override the presidential veto.
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said lawmakers, as expected, will override the veto in the upcoming week.
During the crackdown on protesters, dozens of people have been arrested, with many reporting beatings at the hands of security forces or roving bands of thugs.
The government, which claims the law is necessary to ensure transparency in social matters, has denied that demonstrators have been beaten.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
An American And A Russian Confront Georgia's Violent Crackdown On Protests
Bryan Bingham, 53, who says he is a tourist from the United States, told RFE/RL he was detained by security forces at a demonstration on May 13. He claims he was beaten by beaten by police wearing black masks.
"It happened very quickly," he said in an interview conducted three days later. "They pulled me through the police and dropped me on the ground."
"They beat me. And somebody punched my face."
"They quit beating me, but there were some Georgians that quickly arrived and they were being beaten badly," he said.
A pro-government media channel reported that Bingham came to Georgia to create "unrest," a claim he denies.
"How ridiculous," he said. "I came here to go backpacking, to meet some Georgian people."