- summary
- In March 2025, Georgian authorities obtained court orders freezing the bank accounts of five civil society organizations — Human Rights House Tbilisi, Shame Movement, and three others — without formal charges or prior warning. The stated justification: the organizations had supported 'violent protests' and 'sabotage.' No evidence of violence was presented; the organizations had been providing legal aid, medical support, and psychological care to peaceful protest participants. The account freezes rendered the organizations operationally paralyzed — unable to pay staff, run programs, or fulfill contractual obligations. The action preceded the April 2025 FARA enactment (see GEO-023) and constituted the first direct financial enforcement action against organizations supporting the protest movement, signaling the state's pivot from narrative suppression to financial strangulation. No judicial remedy was immediately available.
- country
- Georgia
- date text
- 03/2025
- entities
- Georgian Dream government (authorization); Georgian courts (court orders); Georgian financial/banking system (freeze execution)
- entity type
- Government Official
- id
- 809
- name
- Georgian Dream government (authorization); Georgian courts (court orders); Georgian financial/banking system (freeze execution)
- role
- actor
- Human Rights House Tbilisi; Shame Movement; three additional unnamed civil society organizations. All five had been providing legal, medical, and psychological support to peacef…
- entity type
- Organization
- id
- 810
- name
- Human Rights House Tbilisi; Shame Movement; three additional unnamed civil society organizations. All five had been providing legal, medical, and psychological support to peaceful protesters.
- role
- target
- Georgian Dream government (authorization); Georgian courts (court orders); Georgian financial/banking system (freeze execution)
- sources
- citation
- ProtectDefenders.eu, July 28, 2025 (https://protectdefenders.eu/georgias-crackdown-on-civil-society-deepens-as-foreign-agents-law-comes-into-force/)
- tactics
- Bank Account Freeze / Judicial Asset Seizure
- label
- Bank Account Freeze / Judicial Asset Seizure
- code
- TC-34
- needs review
- false
- role
- primary
- Security Apparatus Enforcement
- label
- Security Apparatus Enforcement
- code
- TC-20
- needs review
- false
- role
- secondary
- Bank Account Freeze / Judicial Asset Seizure
- narratives
- Destabilization Agent
- label
- Destabilization Agent
- code
- NF-06
- needs review
- false
- role
- primary
- Inverted Burden of Proof
- label
- Inverted Burden of Proof
- code
- NF-08
- needs review
- false
- role
- secondary
- Destabilization Agent
- campaign ids
- campaign phase
- Phase 4: Institutional Operationalization
- channels
- Official/Regulatory
- consequence category
- Legal/Administrative
- created at
- 2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00
- date precision
- month
- escalation
- 5
- harm track
- Track 1 — Legal/Administrative
- id
- GEO-022
- institutional consequence
- Five CSOs operationally paralyzed; legal, medical, and psychological support to protesters cut off; no formal charges filed — punitive measure without due process; chilling effect on any organization providing protest support services.
- notes
- GEO-CAMP-001. TC-34 Bank Account Freeze / Judicial Asset Seizure — first documented use of this tactic against protest-support organizations in Georgia. Previously TC-34 documented in GEO-005 (asset seizure context). The 'sabotage' framing for legal aid and medical support to protesters is analytically significant: it redefines civic support infrastructure as a security threat. Precedes FARA enactment by approximately one month — part of coordinated escalation sequence: account freeze (March) — FARA passage (April) — FARA enforcement + home searches (May-June).
- occurred on
- 2025-03-01
- trigger type
- TR-02: Civic Mobilization
- updated at
- 2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00
- version
- 1
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