speaker of the Georgian Parliament said the US Department of State’s “personal attack” on 4 Georgian judges it had sanctioned, and its labelling of the individuals as “corrupt” was “absolutely unacceptable”.

In his remarks following his meeting with the US Ambassador Kelly Degnan, Shalva Papuashvili said the Ambassador had noted the move was not a sanction but a “visa restriction”, and that there had been a “language translation problem” in its representation to the Georgian public.

“We talked about the evidence behind this [decision], and the Ambassador reiterated that the decision was based solely on information from mostly public sources. Additional information does not seem to exist.

From my point of view, making such serious accusations, personally attacking Georgian judges and labelling them as corrupt judges is absolutely unacceptable. Partners do not act like that.

It is necessary to present facts… If there is no evidence, then we expect that this restrictive measure will be withdrawn. It is our expectation - and this was also the case in the letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - that either evidence is presented or, if there is none, or if it is not sufficient, then this restriction is lifted.

We cannot refer to Georgian citizens as corrupt without evidence. When a person is accused of a criminal offence, the facts must be presented, the right to a fair trial must be protected, and the presumption of innocence must be guaranteed”, - said the Chairman of the Parliament.