Georgian PM vows strict punishment for violent perpetrators, praises security forces

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Sunday pledged severe legal consequences for those involved in the recent violent attempt to overthrow the Government, emphasising enhanced state resources to identify perpetrators and commending the Ministry of Internal Affairs and State Security Service for neutralising the threat.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze addressed the fifth failed attempt in four years to stage a Maidan coup, attributing it to the collective United National Movement, foreign agents, and extremist groups.

“Over the past four years, we have witnessed the fifth attempt to stage a Nats-Maidan in our country. In these four years, the United National Movement has tried five times to overthrow the government, stage a Maidan, and bring chaos to the country, and an appropriate response was given by the state yesterday”, Kobakhidze said.

The Prime Minister condemned the repeated efforts by the United National Movement and associated foreign-funded groups to destabilise Georgia, asserting that the state’s decisive response yesterday protected the will of over 1.1 million voters.

“I want to emphasise that we have a specific responsibility to the more than 1,100,000 voters to finally rid our country of this affliction known as the collective United National Movement. By collective United National Movement, we mean, of course, the relevant political parties, all foreign agents who are disrupting this country, and the extremist groups operating under the instructions and funding of foreign special services. This includes, for example, one of the universities seized by Saakashvili’s family. There are organisations like Fari, Unity, and others. These are extremist groups through which, among others, over the past year, 100, 50, or 150 people have been blocking streets and so on. Of course, this is wrong; 110 people cannot block the streets for 1,100,000 people. What was the purpose of all this? The purpose was to harm the state, the country, and the economy. They were not successful in this, but they still caused some minor damage to the country and the state”, he noted.

He highlighted the meticulous operation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and preventive measures by the State Security Service, promising rigorous legal action against those responsible for violence against the state and law enforcement.

“I want to express special thanks to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, personally to the Minister, the Deputy Ministers, the heads of relevant departments, the head of the special forces, the head of the Criminal Police Department, and the head of the Patrol Police Department. I don’t want to miss anyone - every single structural unit that operated at the highest level yesterday. You saw that the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted a meticulous special operation at the highest level and standards, neutralising the attempt to overthrow the constitutional order through violence. For this, the Ministry of Internal Affairs deserves special thanks. I call on, for example, the French, Germans, and Dutch to take an example from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its special operation yesterday when they have to deal with such challenges”, he said.

“I also want to thank the State Security Service, which has operated at the highest level not only yesterday but throughout this entire period. I want to thank the head of the State Security Service, Mr. Mamuka Mdinadze. The Service took preventive measures, and of course, the Service does not operate publicly – that is its nature – but a tremendous amount was done to prevent problems in advance, and yesterday, the Service operated with maximum efficiency”, Kobakhidze continued.

Kobakhidze vowed that no perpetrator would escape justice, citing improved state capabilities to track offenders, and lauded the professionalism of security forces in thwarting the unconstitutional effort while reaffirming Georgia’s commitment to peaceful development.

“As you know, several individuals have already been detained, primarily the organisers of the attempted overthrow, and I want to remind everyone that no one will remain unpunished. We have more resources to identify perpetrators than we did last year or the year before. Therefore, many people should expect punishment for the violence they committed against the state and law enforcement agencies. The law will act very strictly toward them”, he said.

“Finally, I want to note that our country’s peaceful development will continue. This is our primary responsibility, of course, before Georgian society and the voters who, with full mobilisation, turned out at the polling stations yesterday, supported maintaining peace in the country, and supported our country’s development”, the PM concluded.