Bera Ivanishvili’ lawyer: Bera Ivanishvili to sue media outlets, individuals over defamation

Bera Ivanishvili, a son of Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder and Honorary Chair of the Georgian Dream party, has decided to take legal action in response to what his lawyer described as an excessive, campaign-like wave of defamation against him in recent months, Bera Ivanishvili’s lawyer, Davit Asatiani said on Thursday.

Asatiani also explained who would be named as defendants in the lawsuit.

“Several media outlets and specific individuals who have been spreading this defamatory material and presenting as facts claims that have absolutely no factual basis and are false and outright lies will be named as defendants in our lawsuit”, he said.

The lawyer noted that the legal documents were currently being prepared and that his team was monitoring statements concerning Bera Ivanishvili made by media outlets and various individuals in recent months that they considered defamatory.

“Once we complete this process, we will definitely go to court, and I am confident that Bera will prove that all of this - including attempts to link him to certain criminal activities, or, to put it directly, to accuse a person of committing a crime - is false, fabricated and defamatory”, Asatiani said.

Bera Ivanishvili recently published a statement saying that leaving what he described as a “wave of lies and filth” unanswered had become a kind of incentive for those behind the campaign, prompting him to take appropriate legal measures.

“I want the defamatory attacks against me to receive a legal assessment, and if the court establishes that defamation has taken place, those responsible for it must be held accountable in accordance with the law”, Ivanishvili concluded.