Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Sunday expressed his gratitude towards Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, his team and the Ministry’s Special Tasks Department, as well as police officers for “perfectly” planning and executing the dispersal of the rally outside the Parliament building in Tbilisi, during the protest after the legislative body gave its initial backing to a proposed bill on transparency of foreign influence in its first reading.
In an interview with Imedi channel, Garibashvili highlighted the law enforcement’s “calculated” and controlled performance during the “most challenging task”.
I was observing the process from the beginning to its end and I know the high-calibre professionalism used by the law-enforcement officers in this most challenging task. It was utterly difficult, I agree with you absolutely, to avoid a disaster that could have happened there. God saved us and thank God that it all ended with very, more-or-less no loss, less problems and complications. Our police performed very soundly and demonstrated great willpower with high-calibre professionalism and our core image - humanity – was, of course, demonstrated”, Garibashvili noted.
The Head of the Government stressed the protest had taken the violence turn through the youth wing of the opposition United National Movement and their “satellite organisations”, as well as the Girchi - More Freedom parties and the so-called Franklin Club, which Garibashvili called an “anarchist movement” and noted it had been formed in the University founded by Giuli Alasania, the mother of the imprisoned former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili.
He added members of the Franklin Club and Girchi - More Freedom [led by Zurab Girchi Japaridze] behaved “most provocatively” and had been given the task [by their leaders] to get into confrontation with the police, stressing all would be “strictly punished”, as about 60 police officers have been injured during the confrontations and several “almost burnt alive”, after the protesters threw Molotov cocktails at them.
A lot of criticism was heard about the alleged abuse of power by the police. It is false! It is by no means true! Who started the violence? It was launched by the younger wing of the UNM and we all know their names; so-called Girchi movement masterminded by the provocateur Japaridze and anarchists of the Franklin Club. I saw images of several of them and was astonished. Uniforms of Satanists were worn by some, the youth, I do not wish to show their faces, but it is simply alarming what is happening in the footage. This organisation is collectively referred to as the UNM and it has already turned into not only a radical, but an extremist organisation. They do not have a long way to go for turning into a terrorist organisation. I divided them into several groups: the first one was, of course, the UNM. It was a coordinated effort and Merabishvili was behind it, while Kezerashvili is also with him in controlling the party. If it used to be influenced by Akhalaya, while Melia was subject to their influence, nowadays it is a tandem of Merabishvili and Kezerashvili, who are managing Khabeishvili. It is very well known by all. The second obstruction wing is that of Akhalaya-Melia. By the way, what I have just told you, was confirmed by Vano Merabishvili who confirmed yesterday that their aim is to overthrow the government, change order in the country and launch a war. He confessed that it is their aim to launch a war against Russia, i.e. to open a second frontline, which we were warning people – our society – about during this one year. All these provocations, starting with a dispatch of Saakashvili and ending with plenty of other provocations, which we avoided in the country, topped with yesterday’s and past rallies”, the PM said.
Nobody has the right to “use these young people as a shield” and let them “go to the front line”, Garibashvili noted.