Georgia’s ruling party Sec Gen rejects claims of political prisoners in country, says detainees sought to stage revolution

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday rejected claims of political prisoners in Georgia, stating that those detained were specific criminals who attempted to stage a revolution, assaulted police officers, and committed violent acts.

Responding to a Washington Examiner article suggesting Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and Honorary Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, was “trading political prisoners”, Kaladze clarified the government’s position and condemned the narrative as misleading.

In his remarks, the official stressed the importance of calling things by their proper names and insisted there are no political prisoners in the country.

“What does trading have to do with this? We need to call everything by its proper name. We do not have political prisoners in the country. We have specific criminals who have received sentences because of the crimes they committed”, Kaladze said.

He noted that law enforcement took the necessary preventive measures on October 4 after live broadcasts showed preparations for revolution.

“On October 4, we saw live on air that they were organising a revolution. Before that, they had launched an entire campaign aimed at overthrowing the government. On October 4, they attempted to carry it out. However, the relevant services responded and preventive measures were taken. They are criminals who assaulted police officers, threw stones, threw Molotov cocktails, intended to burn people alive, and so on”, he noted.

Kaladze also addressed bilateral relations with the United States, saying Georgia was open to starting a new page and that the unfair attitude of the previous administration was unacceptable.

“As for the United States, we have repeatedly stated our position. We have nothing to hide. We are completely open to starting relations between the two countries from a new page. The unfair attitude that the previous US administration showed toward the Georgian state and people is absolutely unacceptable. I am confident that the administration of Donald Trump has the ability to easily correct these unfair relations”, Kaladze concluded.