The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned on December 19 the Minster of Interior Vakhtang Gomelauri and a Deputy Head of the Special Tasks Department, Mirza Kezevadze for brutal crackdowns on media members, opposition figures, and protesters, including during demonstrations throughout 2024.
Following the U.S. Department of the Treasury‘s sanctions against two senior officials in Georgia, the U.S. State Department announced that it will implement additional visa restrictions. These restrictions will target more individuals from Georgia, including law enforcement and security officials, municipal government representatives, and their family members.
The UK has also sanctioned five senior individuals responsible for violent attacks against journalists and peaceful protestors in Georgia, including Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri and his deputy Aleksandre Darakhvelidze. According to the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, individuals designated by the UK government face travel bans and asset freezes, excluding them from the UK and its economy.
The U.S. Helsinki Commission warned that the ruling Georgian Dream party is pulling Georgia away from Euro-Atlantic integration and aligning it with autocratic states. If GD remains in power, it risks turning Georgia into “a venue for power projection” for autocratic states, says the Commission.
During the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna on December 19, 2024, the Representative of the Netherlands delivered a joint statement on behalf of 17 OSCE member states strongly condemning the actions of the Georgian Dream government and calling them “brutal and unjustified violence” against citizens peacefully exercising their rights to assembly and freedom of expression.
During a meeting with journalists organized by the Charter of Journalistic Ethics, Pawel Herczynski, the EU Ambassador to Georgia, expressed his gratitude and solidarity with journalists for their dedication and selflessness in fulfilling their professional duties. He condemned the attacks on journalists as “disgusting” and pointed out that EU-Georgia relations are currently at their lowest point ever.
In an interview with TVP World, a Polish Public TV Broadcaster, President Salome Zurabishvili spoke about the current political situation in Georgia, the need for increased EU support for Georgian resistance, the ruling Georgian Dream party’s propaganda and manipulation, Russia’s “electoral warfare” strategy, and her future plans as her mandates expire.
Four opposition forces, Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia, Unity-UNM, and Gakharia for Georgia have announced the joint address to OSCE/ODIHR, requesting the activation of the “Moscow Mechanism.” This mechanism involves sending a special mission to Georgia by OSCE/ODIHR to thoroughly examine all violations and rigged elections, ensuring the possibility of holding free and fair elections in the future.
In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – Georgia office, Grigol Sakandelidze, former head of Operations Planning and Management at the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Special Tasks Department, revealed key insights into MIA’s handling of protests. He highlighted the misuse of police special forces during demonstrations and excessive force in crackdowns. Sakandelidze also criticized the decline in U.S.-backed training programs and rising homophobic and xenophobic sentiments within the MIA.
On December 18, Vakhtang Golandzia, one of the de facto deputies of the occupied Abkhazian region, was shot dead during an armed confrontation between two other de facto deputies. This incident occurred while a debate was taking place in the de facto parliament regarding a ban on crypto-mining in the occupied region. Abkhazia has banned cryptocurrency mining since 2018 and temporarily banned importing mining equipment since 2020, but these measures have been ineffective amid the ongoing electricity crisis.