PM slams opposition leaders for insulting Georgian “heroic” police officers

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said “all, who have been insulting heroic police officers, are enemies of the country”, slamming the leader of the opposition party Girchi - More Freedom,  Zurab Girchi Japaridze, for “coming out against” police with his statements.

Garibashvili stressed it was “completely unacceptable” and “reprehensible” to put an affront on Georgian police and it should be condemned by the society, as the country’s law enforcement and army were “inviolable”.

The Head of the Government called Japaridze’s party “anti-national, anti-Georgian, neo-fascist”, emphasising the “completely immoral, degraded organisation” Girchi “has harmed the interests” of the country. 

The Girchi opposition party “invented” and established “alternative churches, [so-called] inflatable churches”, and “hypocritically, have conducted some kind of religious service", Garibashvili said.

The party leader Japaridze has recently conducted weapons training for young people, he noted and stressed “any feeble attempt” by his party would “end in total failure”, as the state would be “uncompromising in detecting such cases”. 

The PM also criticised Droa leader Elene Khoshtaria and said her party “was engaged in destructive activities, insulting people and among them, our praiseworthy police officers”, stressing Khostaria, who was receiving funding from Russia’s federal budget and who had “no discomfort accepting Russian money” did not have “authority” to insult anyone.

Local media on Monday said Khostaria had allegedly received more than 2.5 million Russian rubles from the country on May 22, with Droa leader’s family having received more than 5 million rubles from the Russian federal budget over the last three years.