The Anti-Corruption Bureau, a state agency, has targeted two political platforms – Freedom Square and the Movement for Social Democracy – following earlier actions against civil society organizations, media outlets, and individual activists under various repressive laws. None of the newly targeted platforms is officially registered as a political party.
Freedom Square members Simon Janashia and Giorgi Shaishmelashvili said that, although the Public Registry has twice rejected their platform’s registration as a political party and a third application is still pending, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has notified them that a court granted it access to their personal bank accounts and that it is also requesting information on their personal and the platform’s revenues.
“Of course, I will appeal this request,” Janashia wrote on Facebook on October 6. “It is sheer cynicism that, on the one hand, they refuse to register us as a party, and on the other, treat us as one.”
Similarly, the Movement for Social Democracy, a left-wing political platform established in February, said that a court had authorized the Anti-Corruption Bureau to obtain “full financial information” about the movement and twelve of its members, saying the measure “aims to establish control over the personal space of these people.”
“With this move, the state is trying to extend a series of legislative restrictions meant for political parties onto the Movement, to bring us under the special regulations that apply to political entities with electoral goals,” the group wrote on Facebook on October 3, stressing that it is not a political party and calling it “absurd” to apply to it legislation designed for electoral subjects. The Movement further noted that the Anti-Corruption Bureau had presented “no evidence” to the court of the group’s involvement in any electoral process.
“This represents yet another blatant attempt to hinder the Movement’s activities,” the group said. “The aim of this is to deter people from taking part in public politics, to suppress any form of citizen organization, and bring it under [state] control.”
The Anti-Corruption Bureau appears to be citing the Law on Political Parties in its requests for financial information from the groups. Under the same law, weeks before the 2024 elections, the Bureau declared Transparency International–Georgia, a local corruption watchdog, a “political actor” before reversing the decision at the request of PM Irakli Kobakhidze.
The latest move by the Bureau, led by Razhden Kuprashvili, who is widely considered a Georgian Dream loyalist, follows a broader pattern of escalating government oversight of civil society and activists critical of the government.
In October, at least six media organizations received inspection notices under the controversially amended Law on Grants, which now requires government approval for foreign donors before disbursing grants to local organizations. Several activists also reported receiving inspections from the Bureau, presumably under the Law on Political Parties.
In September, dozens of civil society organizations reported receiving requests under the Law on Grants.
In August, seven CSOs said they were asked to register under the Georgian version of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), which they refused, arguing the law did not apply to them.
In June, eight CSOs reported receiving court orders for inspections under the Law on Combating Corruption, the Law on Political Associations, and the Law on Grants. The Bureau demanded extensive information about their operations and sensitive beneficiary data.
Authorities have also frozen bank accounts of seven CSOs in the so-called “face masks case,” accusing them of financing protests and protesters who allegedly committed “violent acts” against police during the 2024 pro-EU demonstrations.
Also Read:
- 01/09/2025 – Prosecutors Summon NGO Heads to Testify in ‘Sabotage’ Probe
- 22/08/2025 – Inspected CSOs Say FARA Doesn’t Apply to Them as They Refuse to Register
- 18/07/2025 – UN Committee Calls on Georgia to Suspend Court Order Seeking NGO Beneficiary Data
- 09/03/2025 – “Freedom Square” Movement Becomes Political Party
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