“In 2019, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, under Gakharia’s leadership, stated that Sergei Gavrilov should not be allowed into Georgia. Despite this, the Georgian Dream party chose not only to deny Gavrilov entry but also to erroneously let him take a Speaker of Parliament’s seat,” MP Shalva Kereselidze, a member of the Gakharia for Georgia party, posted on social media.

According to him, “six years after the events, an investigation is finally underway, and a person who not only did not give the order to use rubber bullets but also only learned of their deployment later is now being prosecuted.”

“There is an intriguing chronology: in 2019, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, under Gakharia’s leadership, declared that Sergei Gavrilov should not be permitted into Georgia. Despite this, the Georgian Dream party chose not only to deny Gavrilov entry but also to erroneously let him take a Speaker of Parliament’s seat. Amidst public anger, Gavrilov’s host, the then-Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze, fled the country and sought refuge in Baku, while Georgian citizens demanded his resignation.

Tensions escalated, resulting in clashes between police and protesters. Several individuals on both sides sustained injuries. Now, six years later, an investigation has been launched, and a person is facing trial, someone who neither ordered the use of rubber bullets nor was aware of their deployment at the time.

A quote from Ivanishvili’s most recent public interview: “I will return to my unhealed wound, Gakharia. Of course, he will have to be tried. We have all the necessary documents ready at the court level,” he writes.