Ex-PM Irakli Garibashvili releases new public statement

“I believe the public has now been convinced that the letter I published is authentic and that the facts detailed within it are true. Mamuka Mdinaradze made errors in this affair so heavy and gross that they resulted not only in his dismissal from post, but in his total exit from politics,” stated former Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili in another public statement released on social media.

As Garibashvili noted, “removing Mdinaradze from politics cannot erase the grave and irreparable harm inflicted upon the country, its people, and Georgian Dream through his complicity alongside Irakli Kobakhidze.”

“Once again, I wish to clarify for the public what was meant in the first clause of the letter sent to me, where journalist Dito Chubinidze, Irma Inashvili, and the suspicions sparked by their activities were mentioned. On this matter, Ms Irma Inashvili herself explained that I had no connection whatsoever to their political or journalistic endeavours.

I might never have mentioned journalist Dito Chubinidze’s articles at all, had I not learned of a horrifying fact by pure chance a few days ago. I’m sharing additional information with the public because it’s directly related to the letter I received from the government and to an incident that occurred in February of this year.

“On 12 February, on the instructions of Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze, I was sent an article from the 2 February 2026 edition of the newspaper Asaval-Dasavali. In the piece, journalist Dito Chubinidze interviewed former human rights defender Lazare Jorbenadze. The article was primarily dedicated to scathing criticism of Kobakhidze and heavy allegations levelled against him.

I received a grievances-laden message expressing suspicions, founded on an entirely false perception, questioning whether I was behind the article in question. I am deliberately omitting other details, but the core allegation and complaint was that they saw my hand behind such critical press coverage.

My reaction, naturally, was extremely negative. I sent word back that they should never come to me again with such questions and accusations, that commissioned smear pieces are not my signature, but rather theirs. Later, these critical allegations were frequently repeated on the broadcasts of TV channel Obieqtivi. Now the picture is entirely clear to me, and every question has been answered as to why they wrote in the letter’s first clause that ‘supporters like Dito Chubinidze and Irma Inashvili’ had raised serious doubts and severely damaged the interests of the Kobakhidze–Mdinaradze team.

This whole affair would likely not be worth recounting publicly had I not learned, purely by chance, that the interviewee of Dito Chubinidze’s article committed suicide a short time after its publication…

I also became aware that Asaval-Dasavali itself openly raised questions regarding the death of the late human rights activist, Lazare Jorbenadze, casting doubt on the suicide narrative.

An answer must be given to the following question: What was the real cause behind the death of human rights activist Lazare Jorbenadze?

I am asking this question publicly because unanswered questions persist among the public regarding the suicides of numerous individuals that took place under the rule of Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze,” Garibashvili wrote.