Lithuania to Impose Restrictions against Individuals Blacklisted by Georgia

Lithuania plans to apply sanctions against individuals responsible for human rights violations in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia, according to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry.

In a statement released on August 2, the Ministry said it had already addressed the migration department to include “in the list of undesirable persons” those individuals who have had a part in human rights violations in the two Russian-held regions.

The Foreign Ministry also emphasized that the move was made “in solidarity with Georgia.”

The MFA then focused on the killings of Giga Otkhozoria and Archil Tatunashvili, saying the Georgian officials “are still hampered as they are carrying out the investigation and seeking to ensure that the perpetrators of the illegal killing of the citizens are brought to justice.”

The Ministry also denounced Moscow’s “creeping annexation” of Georgia that “undermines security in the region,” and urged the Kremlin to “establish conditions for ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice and to stop all illegal actions in the territory of Georgia.”

The Government of Georgia approved on June 26 the so called Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list, a decree authorizing Foreign Affairs and Justice Ministries to work with foreign partners and international organizations on imposing visa restrictions against individuals included in the black list, and to ban their financial and property transactions.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)