US senators call for sanctions against Georgian authorities

US senators have demanded sanctions on Georgian authorities following an OSCE report.

The statement was released by US Helsinki Commission leadership, including Chairman Senator Roger Wicker, Co-Chair Representative Joe Wilson, Ranking Members Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Steve Cohen, and Commissioner Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Caliber.Az reports via Georgian media.

“The OSCE Moscow Mechanism report is clear: Georgian Dream is robbing the Georgian people of their hard-won freedom and turning their country into an isolated, authoritarian state,” the lawmakers noted.

“We call on US officials to join with our European partners to use sanctions and other available tools to insist that Georgian authorities heed the recommendations in this report,” senators stressed.

They also called on Georgian authorities to free all political prisoners, dismiss charges they deemed politically motivated against opposition figures, and revoke laws they considered undemocratic and unfair.

Earlier, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze officially rejected the findings of the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism report, describing it as politically biased and lacking objectivity.

By Jeyhun Aghazada