Georgian NGOs Vow to Continue Work, Challenge Anti-Corruption Bureau Order in Court
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Georgian non-governmental organizations have pledged to continue their activities despite the recent seizure of their bank accounts, calling the move an unlawful attempt to silence civil society. At the same time, the groups have filed a lawsuit in the Tbilisi City Court against the Anti-Corruption Bureau, demanding the annulment of an order that expanded the Bureau's authority.
Speaking on behalf of Georgian NGOs, Keti Khutsishvili, Executive Director of the Open Society Georgia Foundation, said the asset freeze was politically motivated and harmful to Georgia's democratic future. "The seizure of seven independent organizations to the detriment of the Georgian people is another illegal act by the Ivanishvili government, which violates fundamental human rights and serves to sabotage the European integration process," she declared.
Khutsishvili condemned what she called an "absurd investigation" launched by prosecutors. "Today, the Georgian Prosecutor's Office has seized seven independent organizations that do Georgian work, serve Georgian citizens, and fight for Georgia's European future. The grounds for the seizure are that we have been helping massively tortured people, prisoners of conscience, and citizens. The illegal ruling does not contain any factual justification. The judge made the decision based solely on template quotes," she said.
She warned that the measures target NGOs working on core human rights issues. "The enemies of the Georgian people want us to no longer be able to protect the rights of children, women, people with disabilities, students, illegally detained people, workers, and the elderly; to no longer investigate injustice, corruption, torture, and systemic violence; to no longer defend them in Strasbourg and other international courts," Khutsishvili stated. She emphasized that civil society groups would not back down: "We will not stop our work. Despite the seizure, repression, or threats, we will stubbornly continue to work as long as the Georgian people fight for law and justice every day."
In parallel with their criticism of the asset freeze, NGOs are pursuing legal action against the Anti-Corruption Bureau. According to Giorgi Burjanadze, legal advisor to the Civil Society Foundation, a May 31 order by Bureau head Razhden Kuprashvili granted the agency powers not defined by law. "He can initiate investigations, inspections, and apply to the court for seizure of organizations that he believes should not be registered in the relevant registry. Such powers are not spelled out in the Foreign Agents Registration Act and were adopted without a formal legislative basis," Burjanadze said at the briefing.
He argued that the order violates both legislation and the Constitution by restricting the rights of organizations that serve the Georgian public. The lawsuit asks the Tbilisi City Court to strike down the contested provisions under the General Administrative Code.
The NGOs' position has been reinforced by an opinion from the Council of Europe's Special Expert Council, published this week. The expert body concluded that the Foreign Agents Registration Act violates international human rights standards, citing threats to freedom of association, freedom of expression, and privacy. Burjanadze noted that the Council also identified eight additional areas of concern, including the severity of sanctions, which in some cases exceed penalties in Russian law previously condemned by the European Court of Human Rights.
"We intend to use all legal levers at our disposal to oppose the repressive laws and allow us to continue our activities beneficial to the Georgian people and the state," Burjanadze said.
The NGOs said their goal remains clear: to defend Georgia's democratic and European path. "We will fight against authoritarian rules and Russian laws and use all legal mechanisms so that the opponents of the country's democratic and European path, as enshrined in the Constitution, cannot achieve their goal," Khutsishvili stated.
