The researchers, Eto Buziashvili and Sopo Gelava, both work with the Digital Forensic Research Lab, an initiative by the U.S.-based Atlantic Council think tank to expose online disinformation.
Russian influence in Georgia has become a hot-button topic in the run-up to Saturday’s elections. Activists, experts, and opposition politicians accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of adopting authoritarian policies that mirror those in Russia.
On Wednesday, Buziashvili published a report titled: “Russia is directly and indirectly meddling in Georgia’s upcoming election.” The next morning police showed up at her door.
“My house is being searched,” Gelava’s husband wrote on Facebook. “They are taking all the devices from the family. A child's laptop too.”
Neither woman has been detained or charged, and the reason for the raids remains murky.Â
“According to the court ruling, which was issued for conducting the search, it is not clear and it is not visible why the search is being conducted,” Gelava’s lawyer, Shota Tutberidze, told OCCRP.Â
He added that the ruling says that the investigation is focused on alleged fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering, though its target is not specified.
Meanwhile, the Georgian Ministry of Finance announced raids on three illegal “call centers” on Thursday. The reference appears to be to an earlier investigation into call centers that defrauded vulnerable and elderly victims across the world through fake investment schemes.
Aside from Buziashvili and Gelava’s homes, financial police searched a house in the western Georgia city of Kutaisi. They also raided the home of a local comedian, and the office of Concentrix, a U.S.-based outsourcing firm, both in Tbilisi.
“This big misunderstanding is going to hurt Georgia globally,” a Concentrix representative told local media outlet Civil.ge.
Financial police officials did not provide any further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
Analysts said police may have targeted Buziashvili and Gelava for political reasons, since there is no evidence they are connected to scam call centers in any way.
"This also implies that no one who works on issues related to Russian disinformation and nefarious influence, including corruption, is safe in Georgia," said Hans Gutbrod, a political scientist working in Georgia and teaching at Tbilisi’s Ilia State University.
“As I hear from Georgian friends,” he added, “if this happens now, with all the threats that the Georgian Dream have made, can you imagine what will happen after the elections?”
Georgia’s relationship with Russia is a central issue in Saturday’s election. The pro-Russian Georgian Dream party is pitted against a multitude of opposition groups seeking to put an end to its 12 years in power.
Under the leadership of its secretive founder, billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream has essentially ended the country’s pursuit of EU membership. Its passage of a controversial “foreign agents” law, which echoes repressive Russian legislation, has led to a rupture of relations with Europe and the United States.
Human rights organizations, political observers, and the Georgian opposition cite the law as a key part of a broader deterioration of the country’s democracy under Georgian Dream.
Georgian Dream officials have rejected these criticisms, arguing that the “foreign agent” law is a necessary step towards curbing the influence of organizations funded from abroad.Â
Meanwhile, the raids may further strain Georgia’s relationships in Europe.Â
“Today’s repressive and intimidating home searches show once again that the Georgian government has become increasingly authoritarian and closer to Putin,” said Thomas Waitz, co-chair of the European Green Party, in a press release.Â
“The fight against disinformation should concern all of us — yet Ivanishvili’s regime goes after expert researchers two days before a crucial election,” he said.