Georgian police have raided the homes of two researchers from the US-based think tank, the Atlantic Council, just two days before crucial parliamentary elections.

On Thursday morning, agents reportedly from the Financial Police raided the homes of Sopo Gelava and Eto Buziashvili in Tbilisi. 

Giorgi Noniashvili, member of the recently launched Federalist party and a spouse of Sopo Gelava, claimed that the authorities had confiscated ‘all devices’ from their flat. 

Opposition-leaning TV channels quoted Sopo Gelava and her family’s lawyer as saying that they were informed on the spot that an investigation was being conducted into fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering, and that investigators were looking into a contractor company for the Atlantic Council.

Geladze’s lawyer, Shota Tutberidze, described the search as illegal and based on an ‘absurd and unfounded’ court order. 

Similarly, Eto Buziashvili reportedly confirmed that the authorities were ‘interested’ in her employer, the Atlantic Council. 

Buziashvili identified the agency conducting the raid as the Financial Police, a subagency of the Ministry of Finance. According to her, officers misrepresented themselves as employees of a gas inspection service and entered her flat by falsely claiming there was a gas leak.

According to Tabula, Buziashvili was listed in the court ruling alongside the 13 individuals for whom the court issued a search warrant.

Both Gelava and Buziashvili have recently authored several reports on Russian disinformation operations in Georgia, as part of their work with the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. Just a day before the raids, the Atlantic Council published a report authored by Buziashvili titled ‘Russia is directly and indirectly meddling in Georgia’s upcoming election’.

The Investigative Service of Georgia’s Finance Ministry told OC Media that they had conducted searches in three alleged ‘call centres’ as part of an ongoing investigation.