The Democracy Research Institute considers that today's statement[1] released by the State Security Service is another attempt to attack the civil sector. Despite the fact that after mass public protests, the Government was forced to withdraw the so-called Russian draft law, attempts to damage the civil sector have not stopped. With today's statement, the ruling party is once again trying to mislead the public.

The statement released by the State Security Service on October 2 represents an attempt by the Government to limit the freedom of assembly and expression. With similar statements, the relevant agencies are trying to create grounds for preventing protests-demonstrations, guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia, in the future. In addition, by releasing statements in advance regarding the attempts to overthrow the Government by violent means, the ruling party is trying to prepare the public mood for the violent crackdown on rallies and arrests of rally participants.

The Government's attempt to narrow the space of free expression is clearly seen in another initiative of the ruling party to further tighten the restrictions provided for by the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations. According to the draft law, demonstrators are prohibited from setting up temporary constructions if the assembly or demonstration is not significantly hindered without setting them up.

DRI believes that the policy of the ruling party and the deliberate attack on Western partners hinder the country's European integration process: deepens polarization, severely limits and minimizes resources for cooperation with civil society organizations, and worsens the situation of human rights in the country.

 

[1] interpressnews.ge (website), The State Security Service disseminates information about the investigative actions relating to the organization "Canvas", which, according to the Service, is involved in the preparation of a revolutionary scenario, and makes public "part of the evidence", available: https://shorturl.at/qtCI0, 02.10 .2023