Civil society representatives responded to statements made by Kelly Degnan, the US ambassador to Georgia, about the importance of civil society and its difficulties in Georgia.
“We share the confidence expressed today by the US Ambassador to Georgia. As for the government’s rhetoric, we don’t take it personally because this administration isn’t the first or the last to condemn us,” stated Eka Gigauri, Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia.
“For the reason that the primary goal of a government, particularly this one, is to silence us. They urge us to remain quiet about the country’s corruption and the electoral irregularities,” highlighted Gigauri.
“For us, the most essential thing is to have the trust of the Georgian population and foreign partners. As a result, the government’s continuous statements are unimportant to us,” she added.
“If anyone is interested, they may check our finances, which are open, public, and transparent,” commented Nika Simonishvili, Chairperson of Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association.
“All of the comments made by government authorities are part of a massive deception and fraud effort with no moral compass,” he commented.
“It simply helps to undermine civil society and the civil society reckoning. I will state unequivocally that it is primarily serving to demolish the segment of civil society that is critical of the government, stressed Simonishvili.
“This is not an attempt to disparage us, but rather actual efforts done to limit our employment opportunities,” he added.
By Sophie Hodler
