“The Chorchana checkpoint was the execution of a well-planned assignment; Gakharia deliberately took steps to provoke military escalation,” Mamuka Mdinaradze, Executive Secretary of the Georgian Dream party, told journalists.

According to Mdinaradze, yesterday’s parliamentary investigative commission served as a day of exposure for Giorgi Gakharia.

“I disagree that this was an ill-considered decision. On the contrary, it was the execution of a well-thought-out assignment aimed at military escalation. We must not overlook this. The purpose of this step was military escalation. When you quietly take actions that formally, realistically, and practically require keeping everyone informed, including international partners and security services, and then arbitrarily build a checkpoint according to someone’s instructions, while being perfectly aware of the potential consequences of such actions. What followed was the only instance since 2012 when the occupation line encroached deeper into the rest of Georgia’s territory, but the goal was military escalation, and we narrowly avoided a great disaster.

Yesterday was the day of Gakharia’s unmasking. A lustration law and similar measures are no longer necessary. Gakharia has been fully uncovered as an agent. One of the most severe episodes, perhaps the most severe episode in his political life and agent activities, is when he deliberately took steps to provoke military escalation. We escaped this, but we still suffered enormous negative consequences when the occupation border encroached into the rest of Georgia’s territory beyond the occupation line, which has not occurred in other cases,” stated Mdinaradze.