Georgia’s Deputy Head of State Security Service denies reports his chief sanctioned by US

Aleksi Batiashvili, the deputy head of the State Security Service, on Wednesday denied reports that Grigol Liluashvili, the head of the State Security Service, had been recently included in the list of individuals sanctioned by the US for the ruling party’s adoption of the foreign influence transparency law. 

Batiashvili claimed he was confident that Liluashvili would not face sanctions.

“He is not sanctioned. I don’t know, but I can tell you with certainty that Grigol Liluashvili will not be sanctioned. We have not checked, but I can tell you for sure that he won’t be,” Batiashvili stated.

However, according to information from the opposition-minded Formula TV channel, the visa sanctions also affected Liluashvili.