Ruling party MP - Gov’t will appeal to US Embassy for talks on lifting sanctions on Georgian judges

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Monday said the Government would appeal to Robin Dunnigan, the United States Ambassador to the country, and the Embassy to remove travel restrictions imposed on Georgian judges by the US Department of State in April 2023.

The State Department imposed visa restrictions on four senior judges - Mikheil Chinchaladze, Levan Murusidze, Irakli Shengelia and Valerian Tsertsvadze - for their alleged “involvement in significant corruption”.

Mdinaradze said he hoped the matter would be resolved “objectively” during Dunnigan’s tenure in the diplomatic position - which started in October - and claimed there were “no arguments or evidence” against the court professionals, adding the “unfair decisions” on their sanctioning had the “potential to stir up anti-American feelings in Georgia more than anything else”.

Until now, we have not seen any evidence that would even confirm the relevance of these sanctions. Also, we believe that several judges in Georgia have been suspended without any basis - this renews the campaign against the court, which is directed by a number of representatives of the non-governmental organisations, United National Movement [opposition party] and its various branches”, he alleged.

The official also said the European Court of Human Rights decision on Lasha Chkhikvadze, a judge who had ruled on the case of Nika Gvaramia, the founder of the domestic Mtavari Arkhi TV who was in 2022 convicted for improper commercial deals in 2015 and 2019 during his time at the helm of Rustavi 2 TV, had “proved” that criticism directed at the judge for his decision was “completely unfounded”.

The ECHR last month rejected claims by Gvaramia against his earlier conviction.