Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has summoned the heads of several NGOs in connection with an alleged ‘sabotage’ case. The move comes after the accounts of seven prominent NGOs had been frozen, following accusations the organisations had facilitated violence against the police during anti-government protests in 2024.
The Prosecutor General’s Office did not specify which NGOs it was referring to in its statement on Monday.
Nino Dolidze, who previously headed the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) in 2024, said she was one of those summoned.
The investigation is being pursued on the grounds of ‘sabotage, attempted sabotage under aggravating circumstances, assistance in hostile activities to foreign organisations and organisations under foreign control, and mobilisation of funds for activities directed against the constitutional structure of Georgia and the foundations of national security’, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
ISFED was one of the NGOs that had its account frozen days before, along with the Civil Society Foundation, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), the Social Justice Centre (SJC), Sapari, the Georgian Democratic Initiative (GDI), and Democracy Defenders.
The Prosecutor General’s Office requested the use of the punitive measure as part of the broader ‘sabotage’ case, which was initiated in February, following a request submitted by a pro-government group, and affected a wide spectrum of government critics.
Following the freezing of the accounts, the pro-government media outlet TV Imedi published a list of basic protective equipment purchased by some of the NGOs, claiming this was the evidence used to freeze their accounts.
The equipment included masks, respirators, protective goggles, and other materials used during protests, including by journalists who were there as part of their professional duties.
The actions against NGOs have been widely condemned, both by civil society within Georgia and from the country’s traditional allies in the West.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
