EU calls Georgian authorities to unfreeze bank accounts of independent CSOs

The European Union urges the Georgian authorities immediately to reverse their decision to freeze the bank accounts of independent civil society organisations, EU Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Anitta Hipper said in a statement released on 29 August.

“This is another assault on fundamental rights and a weaponisation of the justice system as a tool of repression – an act of political persecution through deliberate financial suffocation, intended to silence and punish dissenting voices,” Anitta Hipper said.

She added that civil society organisations “are not enemies of the state, but the backbone of democratic pluralism and accountability”. 

Anitta Hipper also reminded that Georgia’s vibrant civil society had for years been “a driving force of the country’s European integration, delivering tangible benefits to its citizens”. She said targeting these organisations contradicted fundamental democratic values and undermined the basic principles expected of a candidate country.

The EU Spokesperson concluded by saying that the European Union “stands firmly with Georgia’s resilient and brave civil society, which continues to serve the citizens despite growing repression by the authorities”.

Find out more

Press release

[popular_posts columns_xl=”4″ columns_l=”4″ columns_m=”3″]