Vakhtang Gomelauri ( ka, ვახტანგ გომელაური, born 24 December 1974) is a Georgian politician, who served as the

Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia ( ka, შინაგან საქმეთა მინისტრი, tr) is the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. The position is equivalent to the interior minister in other coun ...

and as the chief of the

State Security Service of Georgia The State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG; ka, სახელმწიფო უსაფრთხოების სამსახური ''SUS is a state intelligence agency of Georgia, under the authority of the Government, which cover ...

from 25 July 2015 to 9 September 2019. Gomelauri is a close associate of Georgia's richest man

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili (; born 18 February 1956), also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian businessman, politician and billionaire oligarch. He is founder and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and has ruled G ...

. On 19 December 2024, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

adopted

economic sanctions Economic sanctions or embargoes are Commerce, commercial and Finance, financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of Coercion (international relations), coercion tha ...

against Gomelauri due to his involvement in violent attacks and other grave human rights abuses against Georgian protesters and journalists. Earlier he was also sanctioned by the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

for the same reasons.Baltic countries sanction Georgian officials after violence against protestors

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

: December 2, 2024

References

Living people 1974 births Ministers of internal affairs of Georgia Politicians from Tbilisi Government ministers of Georgia (country) Georgian Dream politicians Citizens of Georgia (country) sanctioned by Western governments {{Georgia-politician-stub