Sanctioning family members is inconsistent with human rights standards - ruling party head

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Sunday said imposing sanctions on family members of politicians was inconsistent with human rights standards, citing that as a legal state, Georgia could only sanction individuals who had “directly” committed criminal acts.

The Georgian Government has not joined personal sanctions against Russian citizens imposed for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Kobakhidze explained while commenting on the protest outside Kvareli Lake Resort in Georgia's east, which followed the information spread on Friday alleging that the sanctioned daughter of Russian official Lavrov and her husband were staying in Kvareli Lake Resort and the hotel would be hosting the wedding party of Lavrov’s family members.

He emphasised that yesterday's rally with physical confrontations between law enforcement and protesters had ended with the detention of 16 individuals for administrative offences by Georgian police. The rally participants had “only one goal - escalation, creating turmoil in the country, organising provocations, with the ultimate target to open a second front [in Georgia amid the war in Ukraine]”, Kobakhidze added.

The state acts under the Law on Occupied Territories regarding the entry of specific people into the country, the GD official noted, explaining the main criteria that “if an individual has not violated the law, the customs service did not have a reason to prohibit them from entering the country”.

Kobakhidze also called on President Salome Zourabichvili not to speak on behalf of the Georgian people, as they had given the legitimacy of determining the policy in the country to the Georgian Dream government and the Parliament.