Czech Republic imposes sanctions on five Georgian officials

Czech sanctions on Georgian officials

The Czech government has added five Georgian nationals to its national sanctions list: a deputy interior minister, three judges and a prosecutor.

For first time in Georgia's history, government is under Western sanctions: JAMnews compiles sanctions from 2023 to present

More than a hundred Georgian citizens are already included in Western sanctions lists.

The Czech Republic has imposed sanctions on:

deputy interior minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, who, according to the Czech foreign ministry, publicly justified the use of force and violence against protesters;

• judge Koba Chagunava;
• judge Nino Galustashvili;
• judge Mikheil Jinjolia;
• prosecutor Lasha Kotrikadze.

According to the Czech foreign ministry, which put the proposal to the cabinet, these individuals are responsible for the violent suppression of protests in 2024–25.

Foreign minister Jan Lipavský noted that similar sanctions have already been introduced by the UK, US, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. However, there is still no consensus within the European Union on adopting joint sanctions against human rights violators in Georgia.

‘Protests took a lot from us, but gave just as much’: how Georgians’ lives were reshaped by resistance

“Regimes aren’t eternal. They end — usually in catastrophe for the executioners.”

At the end of January 2025, the Czech government imposed sanctions on three Georgian interior ministry officials over their role in the violent suppression of protests: Zviad Kharazishvili, head of the special operations department; his deputy, Mirza Kezevadze; and Vazha Siradze, head of the patrol police department.

Czech sanctions on Georgian officials