Georgia’s fifth President urges judges, officials to reject ‘repression’

Georgia’s fifth President, Salome Zourabichvili, on Friday urged public officials complicit in “political repression” to “reconsider their actions” in light of newly imposed UK sanctions targeting high-ranking Georgian figures.

Speaking at a press briefing, Zourabichvili appealed to judges, prosecutors, and civil servants, encouraging them to “come to [their] senses” and distance themselves from what she described as a regime increasingly reliant on repression.

Her comments follow the United Kingdom’s decision to sanction four Georgian officials under its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. The UK government cited serious human rights violations as grounds for the measures, which include asset freezes, travel bans, and disqualification orders.

The sanctioned individuals are Prosecutor General Giorgi Gabitashvili, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Shalva Bedoidze, Deputy Director of the Department for Special Assignments Mirza Kezevadze, and Karlo Katsitadze, Head of the Special Investigation Service.

Zourabichvili described the sanctions as a “significant blow” to the ruling Georgian Dream party.

“Great Britain is a country where many high-ranking officials have kept a very large part of their assets,” she said. “This activation of Great Britain in terms of sanctions is truly alarming for them.”

She also pointed to reports that billionaire and Georgian Dream
founder Bidzina Ivanishvili recently moved assets worth half a billion dollars, including artworks, from British offshore jurisdictions – an act she said underscored the potential impact of Western financial pressure.

Addressing officials directly, Zourabichvili said “you will be morally responsible before our society for this. There is still time not to be a participant in this regime.”

She emphasized that the opposition’s stance, including that of the Resistance Platform with which she was affiliated, did not aim for revenge, but rather for justice and reform.

“No measures of revenge are envisaged. The abolition of Russian-style repressive laws is. This country deserves a truly fair judiciary,” she said, referencing the opposition’s Georgian Charter policy platform.