State Security Service says certain group of individuals plotting to instigate civil unrest, destabilisation, with ultimate goal of violently overthrowing Gov’t

The Georgian State Security Service on Tuesday said a certain group of individuals was plotting to instigate civil unrest and destabilization in the country, with the ultimate goal of violently overthrowing the Government.

In its annual report, the Service noted that these efforts were coordinated and financed from abroad, with the involvement of leaders from both parliamentary and non-parliamentary political parties, as well as heads of certain non-governmental organisations.

“During the reporting period, a certain group of individuals operating within and outside Georgia’s territory - under various pretexts - planned to provoke civil unrest and destabilisation in Georgia, the ultimate goal of which was to change the Government by force”, the report said.

“At various times, Georgian citizens living outside the country were actively involved in criminal plans, in particular, a specific part of Georgians fighting in Ukraine, who expressed their readiness to come to Georgia and take an active part in the planned violence against the [Georgian] police, which would lead to an extreme tension of the situation. Including plans to eliminate officials of the ruling power”, the Service continued.

As the State Security service highlighted the goal of the organisers of the protest rallies was the so-called Maidanisation of the ongoing processes.

Additionally, it was planned to paralyse Tbilisi's transport hubs, block access roads to Government institutions as well as strategic facilities, bases for the deployment of law enforcement agencies, and set up so-called tent cities on central avenues.

The report noted that to increase the intensity and radicalism of the protests, it was planned to provoke law enforcement officers into confrontation with the demonstrators, which would result in casualties and for this purpose, pyrotechnics and so-called Molotov cocktails were used by certain youth groups.

“According to available information, the organisers of the protest rallies also planned to disrupt the Georgian presidential election process on December 14, 2024. To this end, they discussed escalating the situation in the vicinity of the Georgian Parliament to the maximum extent possible, which would result in casualties and hold the Government responsible”, the report said.