“I reacted to an organized attack and verbal assault; yes, I did throw the contents of my paper coffee cup at my assailant,” stated Giorgi Gakharia, leader of the Gakharia for Georgia party, during a recent briefing.

According to Gakharia, he was attending a court trial for his party supporters in Batumi. Upon returning to the Batumi Sheraton Hotel, he encountered a group of individuals who confronted him with offensive remarks at the entrance.

He described the incident as an organized attack, pointing out that someone was filming the encounter from inside the hotel, which was unusually empty, even of staff members.

“As I entered the hotel, I noticed these individuals behaving suspiciously and trying to draw my attention to the fact that they were armed. In response, I do not deny that I splashed the remaining coffee in my cup at one of them, after which they attacked me,” he explained, adding that he subsequently lost consciousness.

Gakharia expressed scepticism regarding the fairness of the investigation, alleging that crucial footage from the hotel’s surveillance cameras had disappeared and that no evidence of the crime had been found.

“Nevertheless, we have formed a special team dedicated to identifying who orchestrated this incident. Despite the attempts to intimidate or neutralize me, I will not let this absurd attack go unanswered. I promise every Georgian citizen that I will be at the forefront of the fight against violence and injustice, striving to succeed. After Bidzina Ivanishvili has lost both his reputation and the little trust he had left among the people, my aim is for him to lose his most valuable assets—money and power. This is my commitment to the citizens of Georgia, and I intend to uphold it,” he affirmed.

When asked about the origins of the physical conflict, whether it was initiated by him or Dimitri Samkharadze from the Georgian Dream party, Gakharia responded: “I acted in response to an organized assault that manifested in various forms, including verbal harassment. My action was to splash coffee on the attacker and strike him with the paper cup,” he concluded.

On January 22, the Tbilisi Prosecutor’s Office interrogated Giorgi Gakharia regarding the Batumi incident as of January 15. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation under Article 126 of the Criminal Code, which pertains to acts of violence.