The Helsinki Commission is calling on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to impose sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Their letter, which is signed by Congressmen Joe Wilson, Steve Cohen, Richard Hudson and Mark Wiese, is being distributed by media.
“We are writing this letter to urge you to take more urgent and decisive action regarding the current situation in Georgia,” the congressmen write. “We welcome your recently announced policy of visa restrictions against those who undermine Georgia’s democracy and human rights, and believe it is a strong step towards holding accountable the increasingly authoritarian and anti-democratic government in Tbilisi. However, the pace and gravity of the events on the ground tell us that more needs to be done urgently to protect the population of Georgia.”
The commission claimed the time has come to impose sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili and his entourage.
“We believe that the time has come to start the process of imposing individual financial sanctions against the main foci of corruption and evil influence in Georgia, namely, Bidzina Ivanishvili and his entourage. It should be clear that the main agents of corruption and evil influence in Georgia, who are in contact with anti-Western elements, will not be able to freely hunt the Georgian people and attack their democracy at will. To paraphrase Hack, the assistant secretary of state’s testimony before the Foreign Affairs Committee, all tools are on the table. Now we have to use them,” says the Helsinki Commission.
The Helsinki Commission also urged the State Department that to act against call centers.
“Furthermore, we know that a significant source of black money that supports Georgian Dream’s disorderly and harmful patronage system comes from fraudulent call centers located all over the world, some of them located in friendly countries – which are mainly based on fraudulent and illegal activities. These call centers appear to be hubs of cooperation between corrupt agents in Georgia and their other kleptocratic partners in Russia, and it is likely that the same call centers have been mobilized in various ways in Georgia in recent months to harass and intimidate members of civil society, democracy activists, and the political opposition and their families.
“The illegal income these call centers generate is the main source of various corruption networks in Georgia, Russia and abroad, and helps maintain the disturbing system of political economy that has led to Georgia’s recent anti-democratic and anti-Western turn. It is also likely that the same networks are sources of income that support Russian corruption networks and enable sanctions evasion systems.
“Therefore, we believe it is imperative that the State Department, in cooperation with US and friendly foreign law enforcement agencies, take swift, immediate, and systematic action against these call center networks and other similar international efforts to destroy or disrupt their operations,” the letter reads.
The Congressmen say Congress is ready to support such moves.
“We believe that these actions will complement our bill, the Act on Strengthening and Mobilizing Georgia’s Accountability, Resilience and Independence, the MEGOBARI Act. The mentioned bill will contribute to the strengthening of democratic practices, human rights and the rule of law in Georgia, and will once again confirm the commitment of the United States of America to support Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration and to oppose the influence of authoritarian regimes, especially Russia,” the congressmen said.
