Georgian Parliament Speaker says US-sanctioned former Prosecutor General has had “no connection” to Gov’t for 10 years
Shalva Papuashvili was commenting after the State Department announced Otar Partskhaladze was being designated with the status based on a section for operating or having operated in the management consulting sector of the Russian Federation economy. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said Otar Partskhaladze - the former Prosecutor General of the country who was recently sanctioned by the United States Department of State for “influencing Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia” - had held “no connection” with state structures “for the last 10 years”.
Papuashvili was commenting after the State Department on Thursday announced Partskhaladze was being designated with the status based on a section for operating or having operated in the management consulting sector of the Russian Federation economy.
The Georgian Parliament official said the former Prosecutor General was being “sanctioned as a private entity” and noted he was “the first Georgian citizen who was included in this type of sanctions, which are related to Russia”.
Relevant agencies will investigate this matter and the public will have information about it”, Papuashvili said.
The State Department said Aleksandr Onishchenko, an officer of Russia’s security agency FSB who has also been sanctioned along with the Georgian former official, had “likely assisted his associate Partskhaladze in obtaining a Russian passport and possibly Russian citizenship”. The US state body added the former Georgian Prosecutor General had “fully taken on a Russian identity and routinely travels to Russia”.
Onishchenko and the FSB have leveraged Partskhaladze to influence Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia. Partskhaladze has reportedly personally profited from his FSB connection”, said the Department.
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Friday said “no sanction” imposed by the United States on an individual could change its relations with Georgia and the “strategic partnership” established between the two states over the last 30 years that was aimed for Georgia’s “full integration into the Euro-Atlantic family”.
Georgian judge Irakli Shengelia, one of four sanctioned by the United States Department of State last week, on Monday said he was going to appeal the decision in a US court.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Friday said the move by the United States Department of State to impose visa restrictions on four Georgian judges “should not become a reason for further deepening of political polarisation” in the country.
Georgian judges Levan Murusidze and Valerian Tsertsvadze on Thursday called the decision of the United States Department of State to impose travel restrictions on them for alleged corruption “unfair” and “politically grounded”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday claimed “corruption processes” behind the United States Department of State’s decision to designate four Georgian former and current judges for sanctions for their “involvement in significant corruption”.
The Georgian State Security Service on Friday said it was “studying” the sanctioning of Otar Partskhaladze, the former Prosecutor General of Georgia under the Georgian Dream Government, by the United States Department of State this week.
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Friday said linking “any individual” associated with Western sanctions to the Georgian state was “speculation”, after the United States Department of State on Thursday announced sanctions on Otar Partskhaladze, the former Prosecutor General of Georgia, for “influencing Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia”.
The National Bank of Georgia on Monday restricted access to bank assets and financial transactions to Otar Partskhaladze, the former Prosecutor General of the country who was last week sanctioned by the United States Department of State for alleged ties with Russia.
Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office on Tuesday rejected claims by the country’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and figures from the domestic opposition on the body’s alleged links with Otar Partskhaladze, the former Prosecutor General who was sanctioned last week by the United States for “influencing Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia”, as “disinformation”
Georgian Finance Ministry on Tuesday refuted claims by the United National Movement party and "related political groups” on the body’s alleged links with Otar Partskhaladze, the former Prosecutor General, who was sanctioned last week by the United States for “influencing Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia”, as “one more absurd and slanderous” misinformation.
The National Bank of Georgia on Tuesday said it had amended its regulation on compliance with the international financial sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, exempting Georgian citizens from being sanctioned without domestic court judgement.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party on Monday rejected claims by non-governmental organisations that alleged the Georgian authorities had left the sanctions imposed by the United States Department of State on Georgian judges and on the former Prosecutor General “without response”.