Ruling party head questions ex-PM Gakharia for June 2019 rally dispersal in Tbilisi

 Ruling party head Irakli Kobakhidze (L) has repeated that former PM Giorgi Gakharia could be allied with the United National Movement opposition party while in office.

Agenda.ge, 15 Jun 2021 - 13:57, Tbilisi,Georgia

The head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that the June 2019 rally dispersal in Tbilisi was ‘unclearly’ planned by then Interior Minister and former PM Giorgi Gakharia who recently founded a new political party For Georgia. 

Kobakhidze said that the rally dispersal was planned by Gakharia and his deputy Kakha Sabanadze and the operation ‘led to grave consequences.’ 

240 individuals, including 32 journalists and 80 law enforcers, were injured during a clash on Rustaveli Avenue on June 20 which was sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament. 

Kobakhidze stated that ‘it is unclear’ why Interior Ministry special unit servicemen stood outside the gate of the Georgian parliament and not inside it on June 19 and 20 and why the riot police used rubber bullets when the rally could have been dispersed with the use of water cannons and other ‘milder measures.’ 

As earlier, Kobakhidze expressed suspicion that Gakharia could have been under the influence of the opposition at that time.