Georgia Planning 'Blasphemy Bill' to Protect 'Religious Feelings;' Some Church Reps Opposed
While the country of Georgia is preparing to introduce a "blasphemy bill" that would make insults against religious feeling punishable by heavy fines, some Church and faith representatives have said that is not needed and will target minorities.
"This law is not going to protect anyone; at least not the minorities, and will be a powerful tool against freedom of speech," said Rusudan Gotsiridze, an evangelical Baptist bishop, according to Liberali.ge.
The controversial bill has already been approved on the committee stage, Eurasianet.org reported, and will now be debated on the parliamentary floor.
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The bill is proposing a fine equivalent of $120 for people committing "insults to religious feelings," which is not a small amount for the average monthly salaries of $328, and the fine would double for a repeated offense.
As much as 83.9 percent of the Georgian population is part of the Orthodox Christian Church, CIA Factbook notes, while close to 10 percent are Muslims. Only about 0.7 percent of people said that they did not have a religion, according to last census in 2002.
Another major global survey by WIN/Gallup International in 2015 placed Georgia in the top five category of countries where the people most often describe themselves as religious.
The official Orthodox Church has said that is not behind the latest bill, explaining in a statement: "Although there are frequent cases of insults and use of hate speech against the [Orthodox] Church and its leader, adoption of such a bill has not been our initiative — neither now nor previously."
A number of politicians have also spoken out against the bill, which is sponsored by conservative actor-turned-MP Soso Jachvliani, including MP Tamar Kordzaia of the moderate Republican Party.
"In many cases, there can be a clash between freedom of expression and freedom of religion, but it is a matter of priorities among the liberties," Kordzaia said in an interview with Netgazeti.ge.
"A perceived insult to religious feelings should be disputed by an individual. The state can never know if some particular action is offensive to a particular individual."
Human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have warned that the bill would undermine freedom of expression if made into a law.
"The proposed legislation would be incompatible with Georgia's international obligations. It may effectively outlaw criticism of religious leaders and institutions, and suppress free speech on topical political and social issues, including the rights of women, of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, and of religious minorities," Amnesty said in a statement.
Supporters of the bill have argued, however, that the bill is not meant to protect only Christians, but all religious persuasions in the country, pointing out that members of Orthodox congregations have opposed the openings of mosques and madrassas, even nailing a pig's head to a Muslim school in one case.
