EU Parliament Pushes for Sanctions Against Georgian Officials, Iran
European Parliament members this month urged the EU to step up sanctions against the Georgian government, list Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization and designate Iranian officials for human rights breaches.
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Members voted 324-25, with 87 abstentions, to pass a resolution drawing attention to human rights violations in Georgia and the arrest of Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli earlier this year. The members "strongly condemn" the Georgian regime’s "systemic assault on democratic institutions, political opposition, independent media, civil society and judicial independence," Parliament said. "The EU must step up its support for Georgian civil society, while pressing for sanctions on officials responsible for democratic backsliding."
Members also voted 486-8, with 29 abstentions, to impose more sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including by labeling it as a terror group, and extend designations against those who take EU nationals hostage, execute opposition members and commit other human rights violations. The members pointed to Iran's "sham trial" for Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-Swedish doctor who was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to death for treason. Advocacy groups have called his arrest unjust.
Parliament members called on Iran "to put a moratorium on executions and abolish the death penalty," and they urged Sweden and other EU member states "to adopt targeted measures in response to Iran’s continued detention of EU nationals."