The Tbilisi City Court has granted the Prosecutor's Office's motion to arrest the bank accounts of specific non-governmental organizations as part of an ongoing investigation by the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. The investigation concerns acts of sabotage, attempted sabotage under aggravating circumstances, assisting a foreign organization and a foreign-controlled organization in hostile activities, and mobilizing funds for activities directed against the constitutional order and national security of Georgia.

The investigation established that during 2024, protest rallies took place in front of the Parliament of Georgia and at various other locations across the country. These protests quickly turned violent and exceeded legal boundaries. Alongside the ongoing protests, calls from opposition party leaders and the heads of certain non-governmental organizations for mass disobedience and widespread resistance gradually escalated the rallies into confrontations with police forces, which were found to be deliberate. As a result, violent groups caused health injuries to dozens of law enforcement officers. Pyrotechnics, flammable and incendiary substances, including so-called "Molotov cocktails," were used. The violent groups set fire to the Parliament building, causing significant damage to the legislative body. They also set fire to specialized police equipment and destroyed state and private property on Rustaveli Avenue.

To effectively carry out violent acts against law enforcement, some participants in the violent protests were equipped with special gas masks, helmets, face coverings, masks, protective goggles, batons, and other tools during confrontations with the police. Additionally, participants were repeatedly seen using pepper spray and similar substances against police officers.

The investigation has established that the equipping of protesters with special tools for violent acts against law enforcement officers was coordinated, including through the funding of non-governmental organizations. Specifically, targeted funds from the following Non-commercial, Non-entrepreneurial Legal Entities (NNLE) - NGOs were used to purchase equipment such as special gas masks, protective goggles, masks, face-covering shields, pepper spray, and other tools that protesters actively used during violent confrontations with the police: Civil Society Foundation, International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, Democracy Defenders, Georgian Democratic Initiative, Sapari, Social Justice Center.

The leaders of these organizations openly called for civil disobedience and resistance. At the same time, their organizational and financial activities were fully directed toward providing financial protection for individuals and their family members involved in violent acts. They were paying fines on behalf of those who broke the law, covering legal defense costs, and handling other personal and organizational matters. The purpose of these actions was, on one hand, to encourage people to engage in unlawful activities, and on the other, to protect those who participated. Ultimately, these coordinated actions were intended to weaken law enforcement agencies and disrupt their normal functioning.

Because the actions of the aforementioned non-governmental organizations exceeded the purposes outlined in their statutes, and a significant amount of the finances they received were used to pay unlawful activities, their bank accounts were arrested on August 27 pursuant to a court order. This was done to prevent any further misuse of these money.

We will periodically provide the public with information regarding the progress and results of the investigation.