Georgian NGOs challenge Anti-Corruption Bureau order in court

A group of Georgian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has filed a lawsuit against the head of the country’s Anti-Corruption Bureau, alleging that his order had unlawfully expanded state powers under the controversial foreign transparency law. 

The organisations on Wednesday said they were asking Tbilisi City Court to annul a directive issued on 31 May by Bureau chief Razhden Kuprashvili, which authorised the bureau to launch inquiries, carry out inspections and seek court orders to freeze the assets of groups suspected of avoiding registration as “foreign agents”.

The NGOs claim the decree granted Kuprashvili and the bureau powers that go beyond those defined in the specific legislation and argue that this constituted an unlawful restriction of civil society organisations working “in the interests of the Georgian people”.

In a joint statement, the groups accused the authorities of using the law to repress independent organisations. “Our rights are being curtailed on the basis of norms adopted in violation of legislation and the constitution,” the NGOs said, pledging to use “all available legal means” to resist what they called repressive measures.

The groups further cited a recent legal opinion by the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe, which concluded that the Georgian law breached fundamental rights, including freedom of association, expression and privacy. The expert body also noted that certain penalties foreseen in the Georgian legislation were harsher than those under Russia’s “foreign agents” law - which the European Court of Human Rights has already ruled incompatible with human rights standards.