Georgia’s ruling party Sec Gen: police misconduct always met with appropriate state response

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday said that any misconduct by police officers is addressed by the state, arguing that law enforcement accountability mechanisms function effectively, and that wrongdoing is promptly investigated.

Commenting on a footage circulated by a media outlet showing violence by police, Kaladze noted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs immediately held the three involved officers accountable and criticised the channel for deliberately manipulating the story to provoke public unrest.

He emphasised that the state reacted immediately after the incident was identified, noting that relevant authorities took swift action based on available evidence.

“What we saw is very bad; it cannot withstand criticism. It is important that the state responds immediately. As we saw in the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, all three individuals have been held accountable. Any misconduct by police, as in this case, is followed by an appropriate response. As soon as the fact was identified, the General Inspectorate obtained the relevant evidence and immediate action was taken”, he said.

He also accused certain media outlets of deliberately withholding information about the case despite allegedly being aware of the circumstances.

“Another unfortunate fact is that this specific TV channel knew about it, the information had been provided to the relevant authorities, yet they deliberately did not publish it. The reason is simple - they wanted to provoke public unrest. This is not the first time certain media outlets have manipulated specific issues. These TV channels are not held to any moral standards. We know their agenda - daily lies and defamation”, Kaladze concluded.