The Political Council of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party released a statement on the 16th anniversary of the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
“Today, August 7, the Georgian public once again witnessed yet another hypocritical PR campaign of the United National Movement (UNM) regarding the August War. Members of the war party visited the graves of the heroic soldiers and published condolence texts. They do all this so brazenly as if they bear no responsibility for the tragedy that unfolded in 2008.
We tend to speak in hints regarding the crimes committed by the UNM in 2008 as we have had objective reasons. As commonly known, international court proceedings were conducted on the matter over the years in Strasbourg and The Hague, which ended with Georgia’s victory thanks to the tremendous efforts of our government. Now, when even a theoretical risk of any international charges have been completely eliminated towards Georgia, the Georgian military or any individual Georgian soldier, it is time for the public to know the full truth and to receive a comprehensive legal assessment for all facts.
The treasonous crimes of the UNM have had devastating consequences. As a result of the 2008 war, we lost two historic regions, hundreds of soldiers and civilians were killed, and 30,000 people were displaced. It is unacceptable for a crime of this magnitude to remain without legal assessment or punishment.
For years, the UNM referred to August 8 as the date when the war began, and their protocol events were also held on this day. However, a few years ago, the radical opposition decided to change the date and declared August 7 as the start of the war. The sole reason for this change is that the UNM is attempting to cover up its crimes and evade responsibility. Nevertheless, in the context where all risks have been eliminated in international courts, artificial changes to the commencement date of the war and similar manipulations will not allow representatives of the war party to avoid public responses to the most serious questions.
No manipulation with dates can obscure the actions and statements made by the former government representatives, which indicate the opposite. Specifically, the first official statement from the Georgian government at the time, asserting that there were no Russian troops in the combat zone on August 7, appears in Presidential Decree N402. This document, issued on 9th August 2008, states that Russian soldiers and military equipment entered Georgia through the Roki Tunnel on August 8. This document was soon followed by the UNM signing a Resolution at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 2nd October 2008, which was one of the most treasonous steps in Georgian history. The resolution noted that the escalation into open and full-scale warfare resulted from the bombing of Tskhinvali without any prior warning on August 7 by the Georgian side. This act was deemed to be a disproportionate use of armed forces by Georgia, which violated international humanitarian law and the commitment to resolve the conflict peacefully. The same document described Russia’s military intervention as a “counteroffensive.” Thus, two months after the war, in the very first official international document, the UNM effectively confirmed its grave crimes, placing the Georgian military, Georgian soldiers and the country at significant risk before international courts.
After committing the gravest crimes on an international level and after acknowledging the launch of the war, the then-government produced a propaganda film and reiterated the confession through a high-ranking military official, then-Chief of the General Staff, Zaza Gogava. Namely, Maj.Gen. Gogava states in the propaganda film that the first phase of the military operation was supposed to end within 12 hours because there was a risk of the potential adversary – Russia – getting involved in the conflict, and the Georgian army needed to be prepared to face Russia at positions already occupied by Russian forces in the Tskhinvali region.
The UNM has committed numerous crimes against the country and its people, but the greatest and most severe crime is the 2008 adventure. To ensure the irreversible development of our country and to establish long-term peace in Georgia, it is crucial that these events receive proper legal assessment. We promise the public that this will definitely happen after the elections. We reiterate that as all risks have been removed from international courts, the events of August 2008 will certainly be legally evaluated.
In the two years since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, it has become glaringly evident how determined the UNM was to drag Georgia into this military conflict and plunge our country into the chaos of war once again. This determination has further solidified the belief that these individuals deliberately staged a severe provocation in 2008 and intentionally executed anti-state orders received from external sources. We will not delve into who issued these orders and whom the high-ranking officials of the then-government were obeying, as this will be clarified through the public legal process. We will be the plaintiffs in this process, and the UNM will collectively face charges for their treasonous crimes against the country and its people. It is important to emphasize that this does not mitigate the crimes committed by Russia or the fact that the Russian Federation is responsible for the occupation of our country’s territories,” reads the statement.
