Georgian Parliament Speaker calls out Belgian Gov’t after “walking terrorist” threatens Georgian leaders
Politics
Shalva Papuashvili
Photo: Parliament of Georgia
Following a death threat posted on social media by Mamuka Jugheli, an opposition activist, the Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has raised serious concerns about what he calls a “walking terrorist” in Belgium. The threat, which lists individuals to be “killed to save the country”, includes top Georgian political leaders, judges, and religious figures.
In his remarks, Papuashvili described the threat as “serious” and stressed the need for an equally serious response.
“Of course, this is a catastrophe. But I’m aware of the careless attitude some EU ambassadors show toward such matters. I’m sure they’ll try to brush this off as well. Imagine if, in Georgia, a Belgian national threatened to kill the Speaker of the Belgian Parliament. Can you imagine what would happen here? They might not fire rockets, but we would definitely be hit with diplomatic rockets over such a case”, the Speaker said.
“Do you think anyone will speak up about this now? Will the EU Ambassador be concerned? Will the Belgian Ambassador be concerned? Will anyone even flinch when an open threat - a death threat - is made from the Belgian territory?”, Papuashvili continued.
He also referenced Belgium’s own experience with terrorism.
“We’ve all seen terrorist attacks in Belgium before - at train stations, for instance. Now, we have a walking terrorist threatening Georgian officials from the streets of Brussels”, he continued.
He concluded by urging law enforcement agencies in Georgia to take the case seriously, though he acknowledged that the suspect was abroad.
“If this is what they call European values, then clearly, some people have a very distorted idea of them. This is a serious threat and demands a serious response. I hope our law enforcement agencies will handle it accordingly. As I understand it, this person is abroad and is issuing threats from Belgium. But even inside the country, we have NGOs, which are saying the same things”, he concluded.
