U.S. senators have called it “unconscionable” that Transparency International-Georgia Director Eka Gigauri is being “punished” by the Anti-Corruption Bureau for her recent testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding anti-NGO laws.
The Senators’ statement comes after the Bureau qualified TI-Georgia, a corruption watchdog, along with another public movement, Vote for Europe, and their leaders as “political actors with declared electoral objectives” due to their voter mobilization efforts.
“We are concerned by Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau’s decision to laber Transparency International Georgia and Vote for Europe as organizations ‘with a declared electoral goal.’ These NGOs are active in preparing monitoring missions for the upcoming Georgian elections, but are not party to the electoral contest. They support democracy regardless of whom people vote for,” stated the September 25 joint statement from U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.),
The Senators link the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s decision to target Eka Gigauri specifically to her recent testimony she gave before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s September 12 hearing on “Anti-NGO Laws and Other Tools of Democratic Repression.” The Senators assert the Bureau’s targeting of her “proves that autocratic governments are misusing laws to punish independent voices.”
Local CSOs and opposition politicians believe that the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which is supposed to monitor political parties, has overstepped its mandate by targeting CSOs for their voter mobilization activities and placing them under special legislation that applies only to political subjects. They warn that the Bureau’s action sets a dangerous precedent by misusing the law to restrict the activities and freedom of expression of other CSOs.
As part of its directive, the Anti-Corruption Bureau requires TI-Georgia, Vote for Europe and their leaders to disclose their financial statements.
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