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to this crisis,” Shaheen said.
Calling on all sides to put aside short-term political interests, she called on them to instead look to the strengthening and perseverance of Georgian democracy.
“This is a pivotal moment in Georgia’s democratic development. As Georgia’s strategic partner and friend, the US must speak frankly when Georgia’s leaders, especially in the ruling party, seem to be drifting from the path chosen by the people of Georgia,” said George Kent, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Kara McDonald of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, said that despite the last year’s constitutional and electoral reforms in Georgia, “a series of negative developments and trends, however, trouble us greatly and urgently call attention to work that remains in protecting and advancing Georgia’s democratic gains.”
“The ruling party’s concentration of power in state institutions, a politicised judiciary, and pressure on civil society – these undermine Georgians’ confidence in their democracy,” asserted McDonald.
2.3 Georgia’s first deputy interior minister resigns after surveillance accusations
Kahaber Sabanadze, First Deputy Interior Minister of Georgia, announced his resignation on March 23, amid media reports that he ordered the intentional disruption of a gathering of opposition groups and used illegal surveillance to keep track of some politicians.
He cited the need for a “thorough and impartial investigation” following controversial TV reports about him and his alleged subordinate, ex-intelligence officer Ivane Gulashvili, according to Civil.ge.
“This shall be a precedent for all high-ranking officials to react with a high standard of responsibility to unbiased questions arising in public,” said Sabanadze in a statement.
“For years I have served the state and followed the law, thorough fulfillment of which has been, still is, and will be coming first for me,” he added.
His decision came after Mtavari Arkhi TV aired late on March 21 an interview with now imprisoned ex-intelligence officer Vano Gulashvili, who accused Sabanadze of issuing controversial orders during the June 20, 2019 anti-occupation street unrest.
A day earlier, on March 20, TV Pirveli, another channel critical of the Georgian Dream government, also aired footage about Gulashvili and Sabanadze. Showing a covertly recorded screengrab – allegedly taken from covert video footage shot in his Sabanadze's office on October 21, 2019, the TV Pirveli report argued that Sabanadze, close to then newly-elected PM Giorgi Gakharia, was being spied on by other security officers.
9 GEORGIA Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com