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Washington D.C./08.03.23/Turan: The State Department on Tuesday said it's been "closely following" developments in Georgia, amid reports that protesters have been "met with tear gas, with other efforts to repress and suppress the protest against this draft so-called foreign agents legislation," as spokesperson Ned Price put it.
"It is our strong hope that the Georgian Government listens to the Georgian people," Price told TURAN's Washington correspondent during a daily press briefing.
"The Georgian people are speaking with a clear voice," he said, adding "Right now, we’re seeing some of those clear voices, those loud voices drowned out by tear gas, by efforts to suppress those – that peaceful exercise of freedom of assembly. That’s of concern to us."
According to Price, the United States stands with "all of those who are peacefully exercising what is a universal right."
"It is a universal right of people around the world to assemble, to have their voices heard, to speak freely, to hold their own governments accountable," he said.
He went on to add, "We are going to continue to monitor the situation on the ground in Georgia. But our message is that peaceful protesters should be allowed to exercise that right peacefully. That is a right that is available to people in Georgia; it is a right that is available to people in every country around the world"
Asked by TURAN whether Washington was prepared to sanction the ruling Georgian Dream leadership, including its founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, Price refrained from speaking to specific individuals or entities who may be subject to U.S. or other sanctions, but added, "we have a number of tools within our purview that would allow us to hold accountable anyone in any country around the world who is responsible for the suppression of what would otherwise be a universal human right."
He concluded: "There are authorities that are written into various laws, into executive orders that we will look at closely in this context, as we do in any context, to hold to account those who may run afoul of what the Georgian people want and, most importantly, what the Georgian people expect and deserve in terms of their universal rights."
Alex Raufoglu
Politics
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