“They are deliberately creating a background that will only serve to worsen their attitude towards our country. This stems solely from our refusal to carry out their imposed tasks. This is an order; we refused, and these are the ‘Deep State’s’ retaliatory steps, executed through various means they control,” Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili told Imedi TV in connection with the BBC’s report, which claims that riot police may have used chemical weapons from the First World War era to disperse protests on Rustaveli at the end of 2024.

President Kavelashvili recalled the agitation surrounding Mikheil Saakashvili [former President of Georgia], describing it as if the state was torturing him. He emphasised that the BBC story and the so-called torture case of Saakashvili are essentially the same, both serving as deliberate disinformation.

“They are engaging in deliberate, heavy-handed disinformation. Of course, this disinformation, propagated by the BBC, is considered significant. However, we saw how the disinformation regarding Mikheil Saakashvili unfolded. Do you remember the pressure? Almost all embassies and ambassadors protested against the Georgian government in a demonstrative manner. All media outlets reported that Mikheil Saakashvili was in a grave condition, that the Georgian authorities were torturing him, and that he was on the brink of death. The entire international community was called upon to demand his release and transfer to another country for treatment and salvation. What an intense campaign that was. Every media outlet covered it; every broadcast demanded action. The radical wing was crying live on air, claiming that Saakashvili was dying, that he might not survive the night, and that something had to be done. This is the same story, over and over,” said Kavelashvili.