Day: September 17, 2024
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The Daily Beat: 16 September
On September 16, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned two high-level law enforcement officials – the Head of the Interior Ministry’s Special Task Department Zviad Kharatishvili, and his deputy Mileri Lagazauri as well as two others – Konstantine Morgoshia and Zurab Makharadze, both radical right-wing figures associated with the violent Alt-info movement. The U.S. believes those four individuals were involved in “serious human rights abuses” and in brutal crackdowns on protesters.
The U.S. State Department also imposed visa restrictions on more than 60 Georgian individuals and their family members responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Georgia. The press release says that 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.”
In response to the imposition of the U.S. sanctions, the ruling party’s parliamentary majority leader Mamuka Mdinaradze claimed that “informal influences” drive the U.S. sanctions and don’t harm the targeted individuals, but instead damage the U.S. and its reputation in Georgia. According to Mdinaradze, “This is an insult to the police, an insult to the institution, and an attempt to influence the choice and the will of the Georgian people and to interfere in the Georgian elections.”
On September 16-17, Michael Roth, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, is visiting Georgia. He has already met with Georgian civil society organizations, civic activists, representatives of LGBTQ+ organizations, and opposition representatives. According to Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, officials from the ruling Georgian Dream party have no intention to meet with Michael Roth, as they believe he insulted the Georgian people, the Georgian Orthodox Church, the elected authorities, and Georgian democracy.
At a special briefing on September 16, President Salome Zurabishvili called on two opposition forces – Lelo’s “Strong Georgia” and ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s “For Georgia” – to join the forces for the October parliamentary elections, inviting both political parties to the Presidential Palace to officially seal the coalition. President Zurabishvili said the “positive, third center” must be created for opposition-leaning, undecided voters to make the choice easier and clearer for them.
De-facto authorities in the Russia-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region have reacted to the ruling Georgian Dream leader Bidzina Ivanishvili’s statement which blamed the 2008 war on the “external forces” and the Georgian government of the time. Ivanishvili said the Georgian people “will find it in themselves to apologize.” De-facto Sokhumi authorities welcomed the statement “if it is supported with real steps,” while the occupation regime in Tskhinvali links it to Georgia’s upcoming Parliamentary elections.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Georgia, where he met with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Kobakhidze, after which they held a joint press conference. During the press conference, PM Kobakhidze underscored the strategic partnership between the two countries and thanked the Armenian Prime Minister for the “historic decision” to vote in favor of the UN resolution reiterating the right of all displaced persons and refugees to return to Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.
Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili is on an official visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where he held talks with Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Al Safadi, discussing the possible expansion of cooperation in economy, tourism, and trade. According to the official press release, “Darchiashvili thanked Al Safadi for granting land near the Jordan River’s baptism site for the construction of the Georgian Culture Center and provided an update on Georgia’s progress in this area.”
On September 16, Georgian watchdogs issued condemnatory statements regarding the Tbilisi City Court’s decision to authorize the Anti-Corruption Bureau to access the personal data – bank account information and information related to the activities, of the founders of the newly launched “Vote for Europe” movement and the organization itself.
The Tbilisi City Court Judge Mikheil Jinjolia sentenced Giorgi Shanidze, an activist against the Foreign Agents Law and the former soldier fighting for Ukraine in the war against Russia, to four years in prison for the illegal cultivation of plants containing narcotics, and damaging surveillance cameras. Shanidze was arrested during protests against the Law on Foreign Agents.
