The U.S had on Monday, imposed new sanctions and visa bans on Georgians. These sanctions included financial sanctions on two government officials and two members of the country’s pro-Russian far-right movement who according to Washington, were involved in vicious crackdowns on protests.
Major street protests had broken out in Georgia in the spring over a “foreign agent” law the South Caucasus country’s parliament passed in May notwithsatnding criticism, including from U.S. officials, that it was Kremlin-inspired and authoritarian.
The U.S. Treasury Department had said in a statement that the financial sanctions were targeted at Georgia’s Chief of the Special Task Department, Zviad Kharazishvili, and his deputy, Mileri Lagazauri, who supervised security forces that had violently stifled the protests.
It added that Kharazishvili was personally involved in the physical and verbal abuse of protesters.
Also targeted were Konstantine Morgoshia, founder of media company Alt-Info, and associated media personality Zurab Makharadze, Treasury said, accusing them of amplifying disinformation and spreading hate speech and threats.
The State Department also imposed new visa restrictions on over 60 Georgians it had accused of being responsible for undermining democracy and their family members.
They included government officials, business leaders and members of law enforcement involved in abusing protesters, the Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, buy he hadn’t named those hit with the bans.
Biden’s administration had previously imposed visa bans on members of the Georgian Dream party, the members of parliament, law enforcement and private citizens over the law and the protests.
