Opposition parties, academics and NGOs accuse the new Czech government of preparing a law inspired by Russian legislation that could stifle dissent, writes Politico.
The upcoming law will provide for stricter conditions for indicating the sources of foreign funding. The right-wing government of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has described a publicly available register of NGO funding sources as one of the priorities of the government’s program. Babiš told reporters that this is not at all a matter of a foreign influence agent law, but rather of transparently indicating the sources of funding. Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said of the proposed changes on the 16th of March: “We want to do this and we will do it.”
However, Czech opposition parties, academics and NGOs have said that the new law, together with the heavy penalties for violations, will stigmatize civil society and impose an additional burden on it instead of promoting transparency. It could also be used to justify government repression, as is already happening in Russia and Georgia, to silence independent NGOs and imprison opposition activists.
The draft law is expected to follow the guidelines of the draft law, which would include the creation of a database of NGOs with foreign links. Organizations will have to provide detailed information on their activities, staff and funding.
Fines for non-compliance will range from 40,000 euros for administrative errors
to 600,000 euros for more serious violations.
The draft text of the bill, first published by the newspaper Seznam Zprávy, was drafted by members of the ruling coalition as a working document and has not been drafted by the government as an official bill. Czech Justice Minister Jeroným Tejc told Politico that no ministry representative had participated in the drafting of the text and that he personally did not consider it suitable for discussion.
Former Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský called the draft a “Russian recipe for totalitarianism.” Nadiia Ivanova, head of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy at the NGO People in Need, said that when such laws are formulated in such broad and evasive terms, it opens up the possibility of using the law as a tool against anyone the law’s authors don’t like.
Babiš rejected the comparison with the Russian law, adding that the draft would be revised. Macinka was more combative, saying it was a classic move to mention Russia when there were no other arguments.
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