US slaps sanctions, visa bans on Georgians over crackdown on protests

The United States Monday announced the imposition of new sanctions and visa restrictions on certain Georgian individuals, including two government officials and two members of the country’s far-right pro-Russian movement. The sanctions target those accused by Washington of involvement in violent suppressions of protests.

The move comes after widespread street protests broke out in Georgia in the spring, sparked by the passage of a controversial “foreign agent” law in May. The law, which was met with criticism from U.S. officials and others, was seen as authoritarian and influenced by the Kremlin.

The financial sanctions targeted Georgia’s Chief of the Special Task Department Zviad Kharazishvili and his deputy, Mileri Lagazauri, who oversaw security forces that violently suppressed the protests, the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

”The violence perpetuated by the Special Task Department included the brutal beatings of many attendees of the non-violent protests against the new foreign influence law, including Georgian citizens and opposition politicians,” the Treasury said.

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 more than 60 Georgians it said were responsible for undermining democracy as well as their family members.

They included government officials, business leaders and members of law enforcement involved in beating protesters, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, without naming those hit with the bans.

The dispute around the foreign agents law was seen as a test of whether Georgia, for three decades among the more pro-Western of the Soviet Union’s successor states, would maintain its Western orientation or move closer to Russia.

Georgian Dream, which controls parliament, said the legislation was needed to ensure transparency in foreign funding of NGOs and protect the country’s sovereignty.

Washington has long criticized the law and launched a review into bilateral cooperation with Georgia.

The sanctions are the latest round of penalties the administration has imposed on Georgian officials after the passage this spring of the controversial legislation, which sparked weeks of mass protests.

In late July, the administration suspended $95 million in U.S. assistance to Georgia, a country in the South Caucasus that was once part of the Soviet Union.

The Georgian parliament passed the legislation in May, overriding a veto by the president. The law requires media and nongovernmental organizations to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

Critics say that it closely resembles legislation the Kremlin used to silence opponents and that it will obstruct Georgia’s bid to join the EU.