The Georgian Dream party has released the questions submitted by the BBC, along with the responses provided to them.

BBC’s questions. I am writing to you from the BBC World Service Eye Investigations Unit based in London.

We are working on a film about the ongoing protests in Georgia and the actions of the Georgian Dream government in suppressing these protests and instituting policies which many in the country feel are having a chilling effect on civil society. The film focuses on the police violence of November and December 2024 and the use of water cannons laced with harmful and obsolete riot control agents. As such, we intend to include allegations which relate to yourself and your conduct over the past year.

As responsible journalists we would like to give you the opportunity to respond to the
allegations listed below as they relate to you.

Our film is due to be broadcast in early December and will appear on the BBC World News Channel, as well as on a number of other BBC platforms and on YouTube.

If you would like to respond to the allegations, please do so before Friday, 21st November 2025, end of day Georgia time [2pm UK time], so that we can reflect your response in the piece.

Background:

On 28 November 2024, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced that Georgia would postpone accession talks to join the EU until 2028. This, alongside widespread allegations of voter fraud during the October parliamentary elections, sparked large-scale protests in major cities across the country particularly focused in the capital, Tbilisi.

During these protests, the police acted in ways which made global headlines.

This film is likely to contain allegations that:

1. General

a. You are a sanctioned businessman and you are widely believed to be the de facto leader of Georgia.
b. You have assets worth billions of dollars and made much of this money initially through business interests in Russia.
c. Many in Georgia fear that, under your influence, the Government is steering the country back towards Russia
d. Despite the fact that the majority of Georgians favour joining the EU, it is written into the constitution of the country, and the Georgian Dream Party have campaigned on the promise of joining the bloc, the government is now moving away from this goal.
e. A contributor to the film alleges that the Georgian Dream government is the most ‘pro-Russian’ government and that they have ‘all the resources and tools to stop Georgia and stop Georgia’s integration into the EU’.
f. During the October 2024 elections there were widespread allegations of fraud on the part of the Georgian Dream party. This included voter intimidation, abuse of state institutions, and vote buying. In July 2025 the EU Parliament concluded that the elections had been ‘rigged’.

Actions of the government and police

2. Violence at Protests November and December 2024

a. In the police crackdown of the protests in November and December 2024, officers under the authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs enacted violence against largely peaceful protesters.
b. During the crackdown, so-called titushki carried out some of the worst violence. These individuals are suspected members of organised crime groups and are believed to be associated with the Georgian Dream party.
c. There has been a lack of accountability for the violence enacted by police in November and December 2024. No police officers have been fully investigated or punished for their actions and the Special Investigation Service, the police ombudsman, was shut down in May 2025- its duties given to the prosecutor’s office.
d. During the crackdown, the police mixed chemicals into the water cannons sprayed onto protesters but refused to divulge which chemicals were used. Our investigations suggest that this mixture was most likely two chemicals: UN3439 and UN1710. These are believed to be the solvent trichloroethylene and the obsolete and dangerous riot control agent camite. As Camite has not been used for many decades and there are safer, more modern alternatives, this could be deemed a ‘chemical weapon’.

3. Targeting of ongoing protests and human rights organisations

a. Our evidence suggests that the Government is carrying out a coordinated campaign against the ongoing protests by issuing large fines, carrying out administrative arrests, and jailing opposition party leaders in an attempt to halt the protests.
b. The Government is also targeting Georgian non governmental organisations (NGOs) through increasingly restrictive legislation.

4. Your role in the Georgian government

a) A former associate of yours has described personally seeing government ministers, prosecutors, and heads of the state security agency regularly visiting you at your home in Tbilisi. This occurred both during your time as Prime Minister and afterwards. He says that you are the individual who has appointed (officially or unofficially) the highest government officials in Georgia and that regardless of whether or not you formally held office, these individuals ‘would take orders directly through’ you.
b) As such, this individual feels that the actions of the government and police towards the ongoing protests could not have been carried out without your approval.

5. Giorgi Bachiashvili

a. You have instigated the charges for which Mr Bachiashvili was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. These charges were described by Transparency International as a ‘show trial’.
b. The government orchestrated the rendition of Mr Bachiashvili from the United Arab Emirates where he was in hiding. This rendition did not follow usual extradition protocol. The subsequent explanation of Mr Bachiashvili’s being found near the border of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan was not true.

Answers provided to BBC. Letter of response of the Public Relations Department of the Georgian Dream to the BBC World Service Eye Investigations Unit.

“Greetings. Having carefully read your letter and since you note that you consider it important to hear our position in order to make an objective investigative documentary, this very attitude prompted us to provide you with comprehensive answers to your questions. Such an attitude is very pleasant for us. We also confirm our willingness to provide specific evidence for any of our responses. We also hope that you will request evidence from all of respondents, from whom you are receiving information during the preparation of the documentary and you have undoubtedly already identified certain points in formulating your questionsand also provide it to us.

We hope the final product will be a completely different, truly objective documentary. It will not be based on the stories of the respondents you found, but any facts you present as reality in the final work will be supported by evidence. With this hope we will continue to communicate with you, working through every detail, and, as we have already mentioned we are ready to back up all our responses with specific evidence and make this evidence public.

In the first paragraph of your letter you talk about the honorary chairman of the “Georgian Dream” Bidzina Ivanishvili. You write that the founder of the “Georgian Dream” is under US sanctions, is considered the de facto ruler of the country, you ask questions about his business activities, you state pro-Russian sentiments, you talk about the movement of Georgia towards Russia instead of the Euro-Atlantic aspirations as it enshrined in the constitution, you mention the alleged falsification of the 2024 elections and you cite the resolutions adopted by the European Parliament as an example.

There’s nothing new or surprising in these accusations either for us or for Georgian society. For years, we’ve been hearing the propaganda statements you’re now using as if to frame questions sometimes from local agent politicians, sometimes from European parliamentarians, sometimes from leaders of individual EU member states, sometimes from bureaucrats in Brussels, and also from various so-called media groups, which are directly controlled by informal rulers and have nothing to do with freedom of speech.As for specific issues, Bidzina Ivanishvili was sanctioned by the previous US administration for “pursuing Russian interests” in Georgia, however, the previous administration did not cite a single fact to justify the imposed sanctions. No one knows and no one can say which Russian interest the honorary chairman of the party pursued in Georgia, because such a fact does not exist in nature. As long as Georgia does not even have diplomatic relations with Russia, general talk about pursuing Russian interests is a lie. Since you yourself in the letter you sent and at the beginning of my response I emphasized the principles of objective journalism, I would like to remind you once again that when talking about sanctioning Bidzina Ivanishvili, you are asked to present specific evidence of pursuing “Russian interests” in Georgiain the film, you are obliged not to rely on the dry statement of the State Department, but to substantiate what specific Russian interest is being pursued.

In general, the theme of “pro-Russianness” is one of the main tools based on lies in the hands of informal rulers, with which they blackmail everyone who contradicts their plans. The intelligence services use this form of blackmail not only against Georgia but also wherever their plans are opposed. Anyone who not only opposes the goals of the “deep state” but is also capable of raising questions on various issues is considered pro-Russian. As a reminder, intelligence agency propaganda labels Viktor Orbán, Robert Fico, Aleksandar Vučić, and now the new Czech government as pro-Russian, because they have not been afraid to take a position that differs from the plans of the “deep state” on a number of key issues. To the pride of Georgian society, it should be noted that the artificially created and imposed label of “pro-Russian” is completely ineffective, since Georgians are perfectly capable of distinguishing black from white.

The continuation of the invented “pro-Russianism” is the false assertion that Georgia is moving away from Europe. Here too, we hope that when you discuss the issue, do not rely on the stories of your respondents, but rather cite specific evidence. For our part, we answer that the current situation is the opposite – the European Union is completely devoid of European values. Freedom of speech and expression has been destroyed, human rights have been trampled underfoot, and the absolute majority of European bureaucrats instead of representing the voice of their country and society have become puppets of informal rulers and frame everything in the process of fulfilling their tasks: they prove black on white, blackmail countries and specific politicians with unacceptable positions, and in relation to Georgia, they have turned membership in the European Union into a tool of blackmail. They point the finger at us, declaring that if we don’t fulfill their instructions in most cases is equivalentto hara-kiri for Georgia and the Georgian people, they will refuse to our accession to the European Union and what’s more, cancelour visa-free regime. This is precisely un-European behavior, un-European policy, and un-European approach. Thus, not is Georgia, where all European values are fundamentally protected, moving away from Europe, but the EU bureaucracy has already abandoned European values.

We will not dwell on the issue of alleged electoral fraud, as the main institution assessing elections the OSCE/ODIHR was present at the 2024 parliamentary elections, which declared the vote competitive and Georgian Dream the elected government. Instead of accepting their organization’s conclusion, the Brussels bureaucracy trampled on the OSCE/ODIHR’s findings, ridiculing their own institution simply because the Georgian people voted for Georgian Dream. On the other hand, there is not a single fact that would indicate any fraud or violations in the electoral process. Referring to European Parliament resolutions as evidence is extremely frivolous – today European Parliament resolutions are not even funny to Georgian society. This institution, fulfilling the tasks of informal rulers, has turned itself into a completely useless organ, and the web of lies shamelessly laid out in the resolution, as we have already mentioned, is not even funny to the Georgian people. Here, I would like to once again ask you- as an objective and high-quality journalist- do not rely on the stories of respondents, but present at least one piece of evidence of election fraud, when discussing election fraud in your documentary

Your letter brings up Bidzina Ivanishvili’s role in the functioning of the Georgian government and speaks of informal influence, which is also extremely frivolous. Georgia is a parliamentary republic and the Georgian Dream party currently holds the majority in parliament. Bidzina Ivanishvili is the founder and honorary chairman of the ruling party. He actively participates in political life from a specific party position. When everything is at stake, asking about any informal influence, to put it mildly, demonstrates a misunderstanding. Therefore, we ask you to thoroughly understand the current form of democratic governance in Georgia, then thoroughly understand Mr. Ivanishvili’s party position, the party’s role in the functioning bureaucracy, and you will understand for yourself that talking about informal governance is simply ridiculous.
Regarding questions about Bidzina Ivanishvili’s business activities including in the Russian Federationeverything is also clear. The Honorary Chairman of Georgian Dream is one of the world’s most exemplary businessmen, who has declared and publicly presented absolutely all of his assets and any past business activity at any stage. In this regard, there have been repeated attempts to discredit him through rumors or false information, but no one has ever presented a single fact that would even cast doubt on Bidzina Ivanishvili’s activities.It is also known that several years ago Bidzina Ivanishvili and his family transferred the vast majority of their assets, almost 95%, to a charitable foundation, which has financed numerous charitable projects in Georgia and abroad in the past and currently. Once again, I humbly ask you – if you are going to raise questions about Mr. Ivanishvili’s business activities in a documentary film, even in the distant past, do not rely on the stories told by various people, but respect yourself, your profession and provide evidence.

You are also interested in the violence and illegal actions that occurred during the protests, however for some reason – you approach the issue one-sidedly – you show interest only in the actions of the police, presenting the participants of the violent protests as apriorivictims in the question. And also regret about the laws adopted by the Georgian Parliament, which you refer to as “restrictive amendments” to the “civil society” and NGO sector. The question also talks about the use of unknown “chemicals” by the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the dispersal of violent protests. You refer to the violent protesters as peaceful demonstrators. You mention the word “titushky”.

Here too, although your attitude toward violent protests is apparent, we will briefly review the chronology of violent protests once again. Immediately after the parliamentary elections, under the pretext of alleged fraud foreign-funded NGOs and opposition leaders in the employ of foreign governments organized violent protests, burned down the parliament building, destroyed public and private infrastructure on Rustaveli Avenue, injured hundreds of law enforcement officers, and finally, a year after the violent protests planned a coup d’état.

For a year, not only the Georgian people but also the international community witnessed live television coverage of violence financed and encouraged from abroad, an attack on the state, the trampling of institutions, and, finally, an open call for the overthrow of the government. Despite this, not a single international actor-Brussels, the new US administration, various organizations has yet condemned these unconstitutional actions. At the same time, any actions by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service, and, more generally, the Georgian government were a response to the illegal actions of brutal criminals. The law enforcement system acted responsively within the bounds of the law and the Constitution.

As for the laws adopted by the Parliament of Georgia, the parliament elected by the people acts with the highest legitimacy, any legislative changes serve the public welfare and its best interests. We remind everyone, including you, the BBC representatives, that the interests and rights of a small group of people may be protected only to the extent where the rights of the absolute majority of people begin. In our country the minority can no longer outrage the will of the majority! Finally, the appeal by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the use of unknown chemicals during the dispersal of violent rallies is deeply frivolous. Without specific evidence you cannot make such absurd allegations. Here, once again, we offer to send you several hours of recordings depicting violence by the participants of the rally, only on the condition that the material will be used in your documentary.

The last issue you are interested in concerns the convicted Giorgi Bachiashvili. In formulating your questions, you accuse Bidzina Ivanishvili of artificially proceeding criminal prosecution against Bachiashvili, refer to the assessment of the NGO Eka Gigauri, and accuse the government of “kidnapping” Bachiashvili and using violence against him in prison.

We will explain once again the events surrounding the criminal Bachiashvilispecifically for you. Years ago, he approached Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili with the idea of starting a business. Despite the fact that his offer belonged to the high-risk category the honorary chairman of the “Georgian Dream” made an investment of approximately 5 million with the appropriate partnership terms. Bachiashvili, instead of using the income from the aforementioned activity in good faith, in accordance with the agreement, for the benefit of the investor, illegally appropriated property belonging to someone else and during the legal dispute process secretly left the country to avoid the expected punishment.

Bachiashvili appealed that Bidzina Ivanishvili’s investment was not an investment and was a loan, but failed to present any evidence. You cannot cite a single example from any country when a specific person received a loan of approximately 5 million without collateral. To counter this, we present you with ample evidence including documents from the National Bank, that it was Mr. Ivanishvili who invested in the business. In this case, we ask and urge you to rely on the evidence when making an assessment of a legal dispute, and not on the assessment of any NGO.

Regarding the extradition of Bachiashvili – a fugitive from justice – to Georgia and the alleged abuse he suffered in prison, any democratic state is obligated to hold every criminal accountable. If, as you claim, Georgian law enforcement agencies were indeed involved in Bachiashvili’s extradition to Georgia, this further enhances the prestige and professionalism of law enforcement officials. Everything is already clear about the “prison incident” – the investigation has confirmed that the so-called “beating case” was staged by Bachiashvili and the senior official of the penitentiary service involved in it has already been arrested. We once again express our readiness to provide you with full materials on the case of the criminal Bachiashvili only on the condition that these materials are fully disclosed.

Once again, we thank you for your willingness to adhere to the standards of objective journalism. For our part, we have repeatedly noted that we are ready to support each of our responses with specific evidence. We also hope that the information you collect will also be supported by facts and that the documentary will not be a collection of opinions of individuals.”

For reference, the BBC has published an article titled “WW1 toxic compound sprayed on Georgian protesters, BBC evidence suggests.” In the article, the BBC discusses the alleged use of a World War I–era chemical agent during recent protests in Georgia.

The report cites several sources, including paediatrician Konstantine Chakhunashvili, former head of the Special Tasks Department Lasha Shergelashvili, and expert Christopher Holstege. Eka Gigauri and Giorgi Bachiashvili are also featured as respondents. In the material, Shergelashvili states that he believes it is the same compound he was asked to test for use in water cannon in 2009.

The BBC also notes that Georgia’s authorities described the findings as “deeply frivolous” and “absurd”, insisting that law enforcement had acted “within the bounds of the law and constitution” when responding to the “illegal actions of brutal criminals”.

Today, the Georgian Dream party issued a statement announcing that it is initiating legal proceedings against the BBC in international courts.