Former Interior Minister says neither SSSG nor PM informed on Chorchana checkpoint opening

Vakhtang Gomelauri, former Minister of Internal Affairs said that neither the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) nor the former Prime Minister were informed about the opening of a police checkpoint in Chorchana village.

Vakhtang Gomelauri, who served as head of the State Security Service in 2019, confirmed that he was summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office for interrogation in the status of a witness in the Chorchana checkpoint case.

“All issues over the occupation line are linked to the Security Service. Whether we were informed or agreed upon over setting up of a checkpoint, I confirm that there was no agreement and we learnt post-factum. It does not happen so when only the SSSG Chief or Head of a certain department are notified. This happens in complex engaging the SSSG and Prime Minister. We would notify the EUMM mission afterwards.

Everything happened this way, even reinforcement in that direction. We had no information and learnt post-factum that road works were launched. The arrangement of a checkpoint does not happen in one day. As I know, the Prime Minister was not informed, and as far as I remember, we reported to the PM,” Gomelauri said.

The Prosecutor’s Office reported regarding the Chorchana police checkpoint opening that “the investigation is ongoing on sabotage, aiding to foreign organizations and organizations subject to foreign control in hostile activities and on mobilizing funds against Constitutional order and national security.”

The investigation into suspicious circumstances over the Chorchana checkpoint is led within the format of the parliamentary interim fact-finding commission where Giorgi Gakharia arrived to clarify the issue.