UNM Parliament Member attacked overnight

A member of the Georgian opposition party United National Movement was physically assaulted last night by masked assailants.

Nugzar Tsiklauri, who is also a Member of Parliament, said masked people in three cars waited for him near his house and tried to kidnap him. Tsiklauri also noted that the attackers shocked him with a taser.

"Just before 3am I returned home. Three cars with seven or eight people greeted me and without saying a word, they attacked me.”

Tsiklauri said the fight lasted for about two minutes.

"Their task was to push me into the car and when this did not happen, one of them used an electroshock on me twice,” he said.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili responded to the incident and evaluated it as an "outrageous fact”.

"Such cases remained uninvestigated under the National Movement. Making premature conclusions would be wrong, I believe. I received the information this morning. It is appalling, of course. I urge relevant agencies to ensure a prompt investigation into this case,” Garibashvili said.

Georgia’s Chairman of Parliament Davit Usupashvili said this type of violence would not be tolerated.

"Such an act against a citizen, and especially a Member of Parliament, is completely unacceptable. I am convinced that law enforcement agencies will soon, very soon, solve this crime, as they have been doing in the case of many other offenses,” Usupashvili said.

He added the case would be given "special attention” by officials.

Georgia’s Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili believed this act of crime might negatively affect the country’s image and the assault should be investigated urgently.

"It is regrettable when a person was violated and it involved aggression, but I do not know the reason of the crime. It is important an investigation will be objective and effective,” he said.

"I hope all questions in this case will be answered in a short time. Similar facts are annoying and can negatively affect the country’s image,” Nanuashvili said.

Meanwhile, on his Facebook page, Georgia’s State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Alexi Petriahvili said he: "strongly condemns and distances itself from any kind of violence, especially political opponents”.

Tsiklauri believed this attack against him was connected with political pressure.

In a statement released today on the UNM website, colleagues of Tsiklauri believed the Government was responsible for the crime.

"UNM places entire responsibility for this grave crime upon the current Government and personally Prime Minister Garibashvili as well as his boss, Georgia’s de facto ruler Bidzina Ivanishvili,” the statement read.

The MP was treated with first aid at Tbilisi’s Gudushauri Hospital.

Officials have begun to investigate the incident according to Article 125 of the Criminal Code, which relates to physical assault.