NGOs accuse Georgian Gov’t of using courts to seize sensitive data from civil society

A coalition of Georgian non-governmental organisations on Wednesday accused the government of launching a “politically motivated campaign to dismantle civil society,” claiming that the authorities were using the judiciary to demand access to sensitive personal data of vulnerable individuals under their protection.

In a joint press briefing, the NGOs alleged that what they call the "[Bidzina]Ivanishvili [the founder and honorary chair of the ruling party]-[Razhden]Kuprashvili [Anti-Corruption] Bureau" had begun enforcing “anti-constitutional Russian laws” through the country’s “biased judiciary”. 

According to the statement, courts had begun issuing demands for personal information held by human rights organisations, including names, ID numbers, photographs, financial and banking data, and health records of individuals who have received legal or social assistance. These included victims of torture, domestic violence survivors, students, teachers, pensioners, people with disabilities, journalists, whistleblowers, and others.

The NGOs said the demand lacked any legal basis and constituted a direct violation of privacy rights and international human rights norms.

“We are not going to betray the trust of our protected citizens, even if this means our persecution and imprisonment,” the NGOs pledged. “For us, their goal is clear – Ivanishvili is trying to destroy free civil society in Georgia, just as the Bolsheviks did in the 1920s, and the Putin and Lukashenko regimes did in the last decade.”

The NGOs declared they would resist the demands through all available legal means and would not comply with what they describe as orders designed to align Georgia’s legal system with Russian-style authoritarian control. They also reiterated their commitment to defending the rights of Georgian citizens and the country’s pro-European path.