US hits more Georgian officials with asset freezes and visa bans for ‘undermining democracy’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is hitting more senior Georgian officials and others with sanctions for undermining the country’s democracy and violating basic human rights. The State and Treasury departments announced Monday that they had imposed asset freezes on two top Interior Ministry officials, a media executive and a media personality for “violently suppressing the exercise of the freedom of peaceful assembly of Georgians engaged in the democratic process and peaceful expression.” The sanctions are the latest round of penalties the Biden administration has imposed on Georgian officials after the passage in May of a new law on foreign agent registration, which critics liken to one used in Russia to crack down on dissent.