Tbilisi: Twenty NGO’s , on Thursday, have called on the Georgian government officials to stop attacks on them. In the joint statement, these organizations have asked to be involved in the decision-making process and participation in a ‘healthy discussion’ over Georgia’ European Union membership status.
” Such attacks of a similar nature on independent public organizations by high-ranking government officials are worrying. The statements of such kind can be considered as an early signal and a threat to the free environment of civil society organizations in the country. Therefore, it is essential to draw parallels and share the experience of other countries when certain social or political groups or public organizations were targeted by authorities.
“It has become a characteristic of authoritarian regimes. In such regimes, attacks on the non-governmental organizations, especially human rights and democratization-promoting organization , controlling their financial turnover and declaring them as foreign spies have become a recent trend. Such trends are evident in Russia, Azerbaijan , Hungary and not only”, read the statement.
The Chairman of the ruling party in Parliament, Mamuka Mdinaradze, on Monday had questioned the financing of the non-governmental organizations. He stated “We are talking about tens of millions, with which these non-governmental organizations are being financed, directed against the stateand the government, to plan a campaign to demand a technical government, etc. Therefore, the public should know what these funds are spent on, for what purpose they are spent,who provide the fund”.
