Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau imposes restrictions on TI Georgia, Vote for Europe movement over “political engagement”

Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday announced it had imposed restrictions on Transparency International Georgia and its Chair, Eka Gigauri, as well as the Vote for Europe movement, its Head Khatuna Lagazidze, and the organisation’s co-founders after classifying the entities as having “declared electoral goals” instead of adopting non-partisan positions with their status.

During a press briefing, Razhden Kuprashvili, the Head of the Bureau, said the organisations and their leadership had been “actively engaged” in pre-election campaigning ahead of the general elections scheduled for October 26. 

He claimed they “seek to garner support for specific political parties while simultaneously urging voters to abstain from supporting another party”.

The official further asserted the organisations and their leadership were employing a “combination of human and material and technical resources”, including presentations, community meetings, concerts, and production and distribution of video clips, to “achieve their objectives”. 

He added the actions had incurred costs exceeding ₾100,000 ($36,000) and claimed they aimed to “shape specific political attitudes among the population and influence their opinions ahead of the elections”.

Citing the law on political unions of citizens and “established judicial practices”, Kuprashvili emphasised “declared political goals” was validated not only by individuals’ or entities’ explicit intention to gain power but also by them conducting political campaigns against other parties, “thereby influencing public opinion”.

Following the Bureau's decision, Kuprashvili said the subjects in the two organisations were required to submit “relevant financial reports” for the specified reporting period within five days. 

The organisations were also ordered to disclose details about bank accounts used for income and expenses related to their electoral activities.

The Bureau is actively monitoring entities allegedly involved in supporting specific political parties before the elections, using various material and intangible resources for this purpose”, Kuprashvili noted.

TI Georgia responded to the announcement by calling it “unfounded” and claimed the Bureau had “unjustly targeted” the monitoring organisations ahead of the vote.