Accounts of seven Georgian NGOs frozen

The prosecutor's office accused seven NGOs of financing protests in Georgia in 2024. The organization "Sapari", whose accounts were blocked, called these accusations baseless and slanderous.

As "Caucasian Knot" wrote, earlier six Georgian NGOs reported threats for refusing to register as foreign agents.

The Tbilisi City Court has frozen the accounts of seven non-governmental organizations. "The investigation established that the provision of special means to the participants of the action for violent actions against law enforcement officers was carried out in a coordinated manner, including by means of non-governmental organizations," the statement from the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia reads.

According to its statement, the court granted the petition within the framework of the investigation of "facts of sabotage, attempted sabotage under aggravating circumstances, assistance in the hostile activities of a foreign organization and an organization under foreign control, as well as the mobilization of funds for activities directed against the constitutional order and the foundations of national security of Georgia," the press release from the News-Georgia news agency cites.

The accounts of the Civil Society Foundation, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information, "Democracy Defenders", the Georgian Democratic Initiative, "Sapari", and the Center for Social Justice have been frozen. According to the prosecutor's office, their funding was used to buy gas masks, protective glasses, face masks, pepper spray and other equipment for the protesters, which the protesters used during their confrontation with the police.

The heads of these organizations, the prosecutor's office notes, also openly called for civil disobedience. The funds from these NGOs were used to pay fines for the protesters and provide defense in court. By doing so, according to the prosecutor's office, they encouraged participation in illegal activities, and on the other hand, they patronized those who were involved in them.

The organization "Sapari" called the statement that its organization's finances were used to organize violent actions and purchase equipment for this unfounded and slanderous.

“For 24 years, Sapari (editor’s note: “shelter”) has been working to protect the rights of women and girls, promote the fight against gender-based violence and equality. We are proud that over these years we have been able to help thousands of women and children stop violence against them and save them in general. "Our goal has always been to empower women from a social, economic and political point of view," the organization said in a statement, as quoted by Interpressnews.

The decision once again demonstrates the intensification of Russian-style repression

Sapari called on the ruling Georgian Dream party to immediately lift the freeze on its accounts and "stop Russian repression against its own people."

"This decision once again demonstrates the intensification of Russian-style repression against Georgian non-governmental organizations, the purpose of which is to suppress critical voices and destroy civil society," the statement said.

It should be noted that protests have been held in Georgia for seven months now: since November 28, 2024, activists have been taking to the streets in Tbilisi and blocking movement of cars along Rustaveli Avenue. They demand the release of all arrested supporters of European integration and the appointment of new parliamentary elections. Protests are also taking place in other cities of the country.

The "Caucasian Knot" has collected materials about the parliamentary elections and the protests that followed them on the page "Elections in Georgia-2024".