Interior Minister: “I appeal to all, do not try to discredit our police”

Georgia’s Minister of Internal Affairs, who has returned from an official trip in Germany, has spoken out about  the opposition’s allegations of increased crimes in Georgia and called on people to refrain from criticizing or verbally abusing Georgia’s police officers.

Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili led a special briefing yesterday, where he spoke about Demur Sturua, a young man who committed suicide last month in western Samtredia region due to alleged pressure from a local policeman. 

Firstly I want to express my deep sorrow to his family. My firm position is that everyone is equal before the law. 

If the policeman is found guilty in a court of law, we will not forgive him [just because he is a police officer]. Our stance has always been and will always remain the same – no one is above the law,” Mgebrishvili said. 

The Minister stressed it was his Ministry’s responsibility to punish certain individuals for committing crimes in order to avoid systemic offenses in the future. 

However, I want to say that I will always defend all policemen who are fair and hard-working, and I won’t tolerate abuse on the general police because of a few instances.”

Criticizing and verbally abusing our police can demotivate conscientious policemen and that can affect state security,” Mgebrishvili stressed. 

About 40,000 people are employed in the police system and the large majority were "patriots and professionals who served the Georgian people 24 hours a day", the Minister said.

That’s why I appeal to all not to make comments that slander our police because our police deserve respect. As ever, our police are focused on public safety.” 

Mgebrishvili said people who deliberately attacked police should be more aware of the harm caused by their actions, "because we all know well that the police are is the foundation of state security and weakening the institution means weakening the state”. 

In his address Mgebrishvili spoke about several criminal instances that had occurred in Tbilisi in recent days where people were some killed and injured. 

Our police responded immediately to the incident and the alleged offenders were arrested. However in the police system, prevention of crimes is no less important than opening and investigating cases. People’s attitude and cooperation with law enforcers in terms of prevention of crime is crucial,” Mgebrishvili said. 

On a final note Mgebrishvili highlighted the importance of the October 8 Parliamentary Elections being held in a peaceful environment. 

We are facing an important challenge – we must ensure the elections take place in a safe and calm environment to ensure safety for all.”

I appeal to everyone to refrain from involving police in a political fight. People who attempt this will not succeed in discrediting the police,” Mgebrishvili stated. 

The Minister vowed he and his Ministry would not let any attempt to violate the calm election environment, and police would react promptly to all types of violence, no matter who committed the wrongdoing.