U.S. Slaps Fresh Sanctions, Visa Bans On Georgian Officials Over Human Right Abuses

The United States on Monday announced a variety of new sanctions, including financial restrictions and travel bans, on senior figures in the Georgian government as well as their family members, in response to violent crackdown on recent protests in the country, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The move comes as the ruling Georgian Dream party has recently doubled down its anti-Western rhetoric as it has been under fire from allies following the passing of a Kremlin-inspired "foreign agent" law which many fear will stifle media and independent voices.

"The United States is today imposing a broad array of accountability measures on a number of Georgian government officials and others who have undermined Georgia’s democracy and the human rights of the Georgian people," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The State Department will target more than 60 Georgians and their families with visa restrictions, while the Treasury Department has designated two senior law enforcement officers, Chief of the Special Task Department Zviad Kharazishvili and his deputy, Mileri Lagazauri, as complicit in “serious human rights abuse.” The pair stand accused of leading security forces that used force against protesters and abducted opposition figures during peaceful demonstrations in May, in which Kharazishvili was personally involved in the physical and verbal abuse of protesters.

Also facing sanctions are two prominent figures associated with far-right Georgian outlet Alt-Info — founder Konstantine Morgoshia, and media personality Zurab Makharadze — which has called for attacks on pro-democracy crowds including journalists.

"We remain concerned about human rights abuses and anti-democratic actions in Georgia, and we will continue to consider additional actions in response," Blinken noted in his statement. "The United States unequivocally supports the rights of Georgians to assemble, speak, and peacefully protest without fear of violence, intimidation, or suppression. "

The Biden administration has previously imposed visa bans on members of the Georgian Dream party, members of parliament, law enforcement and private citizens over the law and the protests.

"Our review of potential other accountability actions and other tranches of funding remains ongoing," State Department's Spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.

He went on to elaborate: "When we announced the review [of our relationship] in the first place, you saw us impose visa restrictions on a number of Georgian Government officials for their anti-democratic actions.  And you also saw us announce that we would review our overall funding to the Government of Georgia.  And subsequent to that, you have seen us announce that we have suspended $95 million in funding to the Government of Georgia, and the review about other U.S. Government funding is ongoing"

The latest sanctions also come just days after Georgia's most powerful man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has ignited a political firestorm by suggesting over the weekend that Georgia should apologize for "starting" a 2008 war with Russia.

"I don’t think Georgia needs to apologize for having been invaded by Russia any more than Georgia needs to apologize for the fact that Russia continues to illegally occupy 20 percent of Georgian territory," Miller said when asked by TURAN for reaction.

"It is Russia that has been the aggressor in invading Georgia and continuing to illegally occupy Georgia, as Russia has been the aggressor with other countries in the region – of course Ukraine being a very prominent example of that," the spokesperson concluded.