“This is a new level of degradation,” — this is how Bill Browder, author of the Magnitsky Act and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, responded to the BBC investigative article.

“The Georgian government is using a World War I–era toxic chemical agent to disperse demonstrators. The effect lasts for several weeks. This is a new level of degradation. The only question is whether they came up with this themselves, or whether it was inspired by the Russian rulers,” — Bill Browder wrote on X.

As a reminder, the BBC released information stating that the evidence they collected shows that the Georgian authorities used a World War I–era chemical weapon last year to suppress anti-government protests.

According to the BBC, “demonstrators protesting against the Georgian government’s suspension of the EU integration process reported various symptoms — including eye irritation, shortness of breath, coughing and vomiting — which lasted for weeks.”

BBC also reports that they spoke to chemical weapons experts from the World Service, Georgian special forces personnel, and doctors, and discovered that “the evidence points to the use of the agent the French military called ‘Camite.’”