PM: Gakharia avoids questions and seeks alternative dialogue format

“If Giorgi Gakharia, the former Interior Minister, believes he is right, he should be willing to answer questions before the parliamentary investigative commission,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated to journalists.

“I get the impression that Gakharia is avoiding questions and is therefore demanding a different format for dialogue. But if he has nothing to hide, it would be in his best interest to appear before the commission. According to official records, he has been out of Georgia for several weeks. This kind of shameful evasion is not even worth further discussion—it’s laughable. If he had real answers, he wouldn’t be running,” Kobakhidze added.

He also commented on the Chorchana case, emphasizing that the investigation must be completed by both the parliamentary commission and law enforcement authorities.

“To me, the situation is crystal clear—it’s a smaller-scale version of what Saakashvili did in 2008,” he said.

Kobakhidze highlighted the importance of parliamentary investigations as a fundamental democratic tool.

“In any country, disrespecting a parliamentary investigative commission has consequences. In many European states, the penalties are even more severe than in Georgia. Here, the maximum punishment is up to one year of imprisonment. Refusing to appear before the commission is a serious legal violation and is a crime.

The so-called ‘Deep State’ doesn’t care about the fate of its agents. In fact, they sometimes prefer them to be in prison. It’s a tragic and sad reality,” he concluded.