US-sanctioned ex-Prosecutor General of Georgia being interrogated – ruling party MP

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Friday told the media Otar Partskhaladze, a former Prosecutor General under the current Government in 2013 who was last week sanctioned by the US for alleged cooperation with Russian FSB, was being interrogated by the county’s State Security Service, which is looking into the sanctioning. 

 

The Public Service Development Agency of the Justice Ministry on Wednesday said it had concluded it appropriate to terminate the Georgian citizenship of Partskhaladze due to holding Russian citizenship as mentioned by the US State Department. 

 

The announcement came following a large turmoil over the issue as the country’s National Bank on Tuesday issued a decree that exempted Georgian citizens from international sanctions without the approval of domestic courts, with the opposition claiming the “anti-state move” by the “pro-Kremlin Government” allowed the ex-official re-register his properties and conduct transactions before the annulment of his Georgian citizenship. 

 

The ruling party and an acting President of NBG Natia Turnava, however, claimed the decree “concerned all Georgian citizens and not specific individuals”, in contrast to the opposition’s claims the Government had done “its utmost” to ensure aid to a “Russian spy”.