UK sanctions Georgian officials over human rights abuses

Britain on Thursday sanctioned four Georgian officials, including the country's first deputy minister of internal affairs Shalva Bedoidze, accusing them of allowing serious human rights violations.

Protests in Georgia have been ongoing since November, when the ruling Georgian Dream party said it was suspending European Union accession talks until 2028.

The British government said Bedoidze had engaged in actions amounting to an infringement of individuals' rights to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

"Specifically, during the protests that occurred following the announcement of the suspension of EU accession talks, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia oversaw the police force's disproportionate use of violence against protesters," it said.

It also sanctioned Mirza Kezevadze, deputy head of the special tasks department of the internal affairs ministry, general prosecutor Giorgi Gabitashvi and Karlo Katsitadze, head of the special investigatory service.

The foreign office said Gabitashvi and Katsitadze failed to properly investigate those responsible for serious violence.

All four — sanctioned under Britain's global human rights sanctions regime — are banned from traveling to the UK and their assets in the country have been frozen.

Britain and the U.S. imposed sanctions on other Georgian officials, including the interior minister, in December.

"The scenes of brutal violence against protesters, journalists and opposition figures in Georgia were truly shocking," said British foreign minister David Lammy. "More than 100 days on, its authorities have failed to hold those responsible to account."

The Georgian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.