Georgian Parliament official: ideologically defeated groups target citizens, backed by foreign envoys

Archil Gorduladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, on Tuesday said that “ideologically degraded individuals” harassed citizens at their homes and workplaces, holding foreign ambassadors responsible for encouraging discord in the country.

“These ideologically degraded individuals are distinguished by insults, they burst into people’s homes and workplaces and cause the gravest offense”, Gorduladze noted, responding to the confrontation outside the ruling Georgian Dream party’s campaign office.

“All responsibility lies with those ambassadors, so-called representatives of the diplomatic corps, who, through inaction, stand beside the very people they fund, encouraging the import of discord into our country, attempts to incite unrest, and the harmful acts that took place on Melikishvili Avenue”, he concluded.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation under the article concerning group violence after the clashes near the election headquarters of Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze.

According to reports, activists used hate speech and insults directed at party members and supporters present at the headquarters. The altercation escalated into a physical confrontation. Two journalists were reportedly injured during the incident.