US sanctions Georgian officials and far-right activists for their involvement in violent attacks on freedom of expression
The U.S Department of the Treasury sanctioned two top Georgian Internal Affairs officials as well as two far-right political activists for using violence against peaceful protests over the past three years.
The sanctioned officials are Zviad Kharazishvili, head of the Special Task Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his deputy, Mileri Lagazauri. The Treasury’s press release states that they oversaw Georgian security forces as they “violently targeted Georgian citizens, political opposition leaders, journalists, and youth activists who were peacefully expressing their views.”
The Treasury references the May protests in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, that erupted after parliament announced that it would consider draft legislation mandating that non-governmental organizations and independent media outlets receiving funds from abroad register as agents of foreign influence, subjecting them to government scrutiny.
A similar bill was abandoned by lawmakers a year earlier after huge protests that compared the proposed legislation to Russia’s notorious Foreign Agent Law.
The proposal was revived and finally adopted on the second try — and overcoming a presidential veto — on May 29 of this year, after more mass protests were violently put down by authorities.
Two leaders of group Alt-Info, Konstantine Morgoshia and Zurab Makharadze, were also sanctioned for advocating violence and organizing attacks on marginalized people and peaceful protestors in Georgia in 2021 and 2023.
Alt-Info is a far-right, pro-Russian media company infamous for broadcasting hate speech and holding violent demonstrations. In July 2021, it helped to organize an attack on an LGBT+ Pride event, where its protestors beat dozens of journalists, one of whom died of his injuries.
Alt-Info attempted to register as a political party as well, but the Public Registry revoked their registration in April due to irregularities and inconsistencies in their application. Instead, candidates from Alt-Info will be running in the parliamentary elections in October on the party list of Alliance of Patriots of Georgia, another pro-Russian political party.
Speaking on Alt-Info’s TV channel, Makharadze celebrated the imposition of sanctions by the U.S.
“This is a huge honor for me,” he said. “There is no higher award in Georgia for a person who has a national political position than the one I received today. I will say that only Koka [Konstantine Morgoshia] and I do not deserve it — it is collective work.”
Other commentators, however, were less enthusiastic.
“This is a huge reputational blow to the country and the government,” Nino Lomjaria, Georgia’s former Ombudsman, told local outlet TV Pirveli. “It is symbolic that sanctions were imposed on both high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and two individuals who publicly and openly represent the Russian interests in Georgia.”
In his response to the sanctions announcement, ruling party Georgian Dream’s Executive Secretary and MP Mamuka Mdinaradze accused the U.S of attempting to interfere in the country’s crucial upcoming parliamentary election.
“This is an insult to the police, an insult to the institution, and an attempt to influence the decision and the will of Georgian people and to interfere in Georgian elections,” said the lawmaker. “As the elections approach, we expect more of this.”
The Deputy Chairwoman of Parliament Nino Tsilosani also accused the U.S. of interfering in Georgia’s domestic affairs.
“I honestly want to tell you that this is really blatant interference in the activities of the state of Georgia, if they actually perceive Georgia as a state, especially since there has been neither a criminal prosecution nor any proven guilt against any convicted person,” Tsilosani said.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken released a statement announcing that the State Department would take further measures, including visa restrictions, against more than 60 Georgians and their family members for undermining democracy in Georgia.
“These individuals include senior government and municipal figures who abused their power to restrict the fundamental freedoms of the Georgian people, business leaders involved in corrupt practices, persons who have spread disinformation and promoted violent extremism, members of law enforcement who were involved in the beating of protesters, and members of parliament who played a critical role in advancing undemocratic legislation and restricting civil society,” the statement said.
Konstantine Morgoshia, the newly sanctioned founder of Alt-Info, was featured in an investigation by OCCRP’s Georgia-based partner iFact which revealed how companies that he and his family own have won numerous public procurements and acquired large amounts of real estate on the outskirts of Tbilisi from the state for a nominal price.
Another Georgian Partner of OCCRP, GMC, discovered that Morgoshia’s brother received over 800 sq.m. of residential space and US$110,000 from a development company called Demax Vake in exchange for obtaining a construction permit for them from Tbilisi City Hall.
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