UNM’s Pavlenishvili: Let us not accuse Baramidze of blaming anyone for war crimes; he did not suggest Georgia committed any crime

“In reality, Gia Baramidze certainly did not accuse himself of any war crimes, setting everything else aside,” stated Irakli Pavlenishvili, Chairman of the Interim Governing Council of the United National Movement.

Pavlenishvili made these comments in response to remarks by UNM leader Gia Baramidze, who had asserted that “during the war in Abkhazia, Georgian military personnel executed prisoners, which is why the Abkhaz side refused to hand captives over.”

According to Pavlenishvili, Baramidze’s words were misinterpreted by a section of the public.

“Georgian Dream routinely tries to seize upon anything to weaponise against its own country. In reality, Gia Baramidze certainly did not accuse himself of any war crimes, setting everything else aside. May I remind you that this man was a Member of Parliament who fought with a weapon in hand for our country’s territorial integrity in Abkhazia for an entire year. Let us at least refrain from falsely accusing this individual of attributing war crimes to himself or anyone else. His words were misunderstood; he was not suggesting at all that the Georgian side committed any crime; he has already clarified this himself and will clarify it further. This is a man who was a Member of Parliament fighting for our nation’s territorial integrity,” Pavlenishvili stated.

Furthermore, UNM member Gia Baramidze asserted that his remarks were “taken out of context”.

“I said that the Russian side and the separatist side held so many captives while we did not because our people were executing them; that does not mean the Georgian state and the Georgian army were executing people.”

For context, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has launched a criminal investigation into high treason and sabotage following the statements made by United National Movement member Giorgi Baramidze.