Ruling party Executive Secretary slams US sanctions as “insult” to police, calls move “election interference”
Mdinaradze also commented on a visit of Michael Roth, a member of the German Bundestag, to the country and claimed he had made statements that had “insulted Georgian people, Church, and the country’s Government” in his comments while joining the protests earlier this year, adding “whoever insults Georgian Church, identity, or people's choice will face consequences”. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday claimed a decision by the United States Department of the Treasury to sanction two Georgian Government officials and two citizens served as an “insult to the country’s police and electoral interference” and aimed to “influence Georgian voters' choices and will” in the parliamentary elections next month.
Mdinaradze’s comments followed the Department’s statement, issued on Monday, that said it had sanctioned “individuals who have “undermined fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression”, in Georgia during public protests against the controversial law on transparency of foreign influence, reintroduced by the party in May before its eventual adoption.
The sanctioned individuals include Zviad Kharazishvili, the Director of Special Tasks Department of the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his Deputy, Mileri Lagazauri, as well as Konstantine Morgoshia, the founder of Alt-Info media outlet, and Zurab Makharadze, who is associated with the company.
The release said the two sanctioned officials had been associated with “brutal crackdowns on peaceful protests and political opponents”, while the individuals associated with the outlet were “responsible for or complicit in, or have directly or indirectly engaged in violently suppressing the exercise of the freedom of peaceful assembly of Georgians engaged in the democratic process and peaceful expression”.
Mdinaradze also commented on a visit of Michael Roth, a member of the German Bundestag, to the country and claimed he had made statements that had “insulted Georgian people, Church, and the country’s Government” in his comments while joining the protests earlier this year, adding “whoever insults Georgian Church, identity, or people's choice will face consequences”.
The law, passed by the Parliament in May, requires non-commercial entities and media outlets in the country to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.