PM of video involving ex-official Izoria’s brother: ‘what I’ve seen was disgusting’

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia says that what he has seen in the recently released video, depicting the brother of former head of the Georgian Intelligence Service Levan Izoria fighting with a law enforcer, ‘is disgusting and his action [Izoaria’s brother, Vakhtang Izoria] has no justification.’

It’s of no importance for me whose brother he is… If he were my brother I would have had an even stronger reaction,” Gakharia said, praising the police who, “on a daily basis risk their lives for our security and peace.”

The 2014 video, which was released last week by Mtavari Arkhi, shows Vakhtang Izoria disputing with police Major Giorgi Dvalishvili, who stopped and later detained Izoria for driving under the influence of alcohol and then disobedience to police.

Dvalishvili says Izoria was released shortly from the scene after then deputy Interior Ministers Levan Izoria and Vakhtang Gomelauri got involved by phone.

The 2014 video and the story released by Mtavari Arkhi last week. 

Dvalishvili, who handed the video to the Prosecutor’s Office last year, says ‘he has been politically persecuted since the incident’- was demoted and then dismissed.

Izoria, who resigned shortly after the release of the video and was appointed as Georgia’s ambassador to Germany, says that he “learnt about the incident only after it ended, and his resignation had nothing to do with the video.”

He also said that the accusations of political persecution were ‘a lie,’ as Dvalishvili was promoted twice since the incident and his [Dvalishvili’s wife\ was employed at the Interior Ministry.

The opposition has accused Izoaria and Gomelauri, as well as Gakharia ‘who knew about the incident,’ of ‘concealing a crime’ and said that they must be held accountable.

They also said that Izoria ‘was demoted.’ 

Several members of the ruling Georgian Dream party stated that ‘Mtavari Arkhi, as well as the opposition know that Vakhtang Izoria is a person with disabilities, suffering from mental problems, and the release of the video was morally unjustified.’

They also asked questions on why Dvalishvili kept the video unreleased for several years.

Dvalishvili says that he handed the video to the Prosecutor’s Office last year, which now investigates the incident, only after Tbilisi police official demanded from him to give the video.