“It is very unpleasant and challenging for us to speak about former teammates, and it is no less difficult for the law enforcement agencies and their leaders who are directly handling these cases,” stated MP Nino Tsilosani, Vice Speaker of Parliament.

According to her, no position or team affiliation can guarantee that legal proceedings will not be brought against individuals.

“The reality is simply this: if these individuals are proven to have engaged in corruption on such a large scale, we will likely feel more anger than sorrow, because their actions have subjected all of us to attacks, negative perceptions, and prejudiced attitudes. Of course, we have all been harmed, as some people could not restrain themselves and misused their authority. I believe that when a country upholds the rule of law, no position or team affiliation can provide immunity from such processes.

What has all this taught us? It is that these events took place during the most challenging period, when the country was confronting threats of war and revolutionary upheaval. All political efforts and the mobilisation of agencies were entirely focused on mitigating these risks. If such actions were exposed, it was likely at the worst possible moment to do so. Naturally, under these circumstances, fighting on both fronts, including within the team, was simply unimaginable.

Furthermore, it is important to recognise that a healthy parliamentary and democratic system relies on a correct and objective opposition. Unfortunately, we were deprived of this and had to oppose ourselves, discovering within our ranks the shortcomings that existed among some high-ranking officials,” Tsilosani added.