State Security Service alleges plans uncovered for “civil unrest”, Gov’t overthrow by former UNM Gov’t officials
The Service also said the planned “provocations” were following previous actions that had been successfully prevented “through effective and preventive response of law enforcement officers”. Photo: State Security Service of Georgia
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The Georgian State Security Service on Monday claimed it had uncovered a plan by former officials of the previous United National Movement Government who were aiming to cause “civil unrest” and overthrow the country’s Government using a “Euromaidan scenario” this fall.
The state body said it had been monitoring the group, which it said involved Giorgi Lortkipanidze, the former UNM Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and currently the Deputy Head of the Ukrainian military intelligence, Mikheil Baturin, a former member of the security detail of the former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and Mamuka Mamulashvili, the commander of the Georgian Legion fighting in the ongoing Ukraine war.
The Service said the group planned to stage their plans between October and December of this year, through use of public fallout of the potentially negative decision by the European Union bodies on granting Georgia the bloc’s membership candidate status, with the ultimate goal of changing the Government by “violent means”.
It also claimed the plan to overthrow the Government was planned to be implemented “with the coordination and financial support of foreign countries”.
According to confirmed and verified information, the implementation of the plan - developed by Giorgi Lortkipanidze - would involve a rather large group of Georgian fighters in Ukraine and a part of Georgian youth, influenced by interested parties, whose training is taking place near the Polish-Ukrainian state border”, the Service said.
“The preparation of the youth groups to be used for the revolutionary scenario is involving the organisation Canvas, the core of which is the organisation Otpor. It is these organisations that took an active part in revolutionary processes in Serbia in the past and, therefore, they are regularly used in different countries to train young people and involve them in destructive processes”, the statement said.
The Service also noted scenarios of events to be used in Georgia included setting up a “tent city” for hosting continuous public rallies, erecting barricades near central avenues and strategic objects across Georgia, barricading Government buildings and “other illegal actions that contain elements of heavy provocation”.
It added the organisers were “considering the implementation of a scenario similar to the Euromaidan in Ukraine in 2014”, in reference to public protests that led to the replacement of the country’s Government.
The Service also said the planned “provocations” were following previous actions that had been successfully prevented “through effective and preventive response of law enforcement officers”.
Taking into account the challenges of the current difficult geopolitical situation, unlike previous cases, the current plan represents a much higher risk factor that threatens the security of the country, as well as the life, well-being and health of ordinary citizens”, the statement said.
The Service said it was working in coordination with other agencies to implement ”all necessary preventive measures” to “neutralise the risks” of the alleged plans.
The Georgian State Security Service on Friday said it was “studying” the sanctioning of Otar Partskhaladze, the former Prosecutor General of Georgia under the Georgian Dream Government, by the United States Department of State this week.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said the “selfless work” of the employees of the State Security Service for the protection of the national interests of the country was “inestimable”.
The security situation near the Russian occupation line and in the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia, and release of Georgian citizens illegally detained by de facto authorities in the territories were discussed on Monday in a meeting between Grigol Liluashvili, the Head of the Georgian State Security Service and Dimitrios Karabalis, the Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia.
The Georgian State Security Service on Saturday announced the detention of Georgian citizen Malkhaz Paksashvili, the leader of one of the groups of the terrorist organisation Islamic State, by its Counterterrorism Centre.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Monday said Giorgi Lortkipanidze, the country’s former Deputy Interior Minister under the United National Movement Government who currently serves as the Deputy Head of the Ukrainian military intelligence, had been “exposed for the second time” in “organising an unrest” in Georgia.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said the Government would “protect the country and its citizens” from alleged efforts by a part of the domestic opposition to “bring a disorder into the country”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said the “strategic core” of Georgian-Ukrainian relations should be “freed from political conjuncture for the sake of the future” of the friendship between the two countries.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday said his Government would “not allow any non-entities and enemies inside or outside the country” to “bring about any type of disturbance”, following a report by the State Security Service about an alleged plot for the overthrow of the Government.
The Georgian State Security Service on Monday claimed “top managerial representatives” from the Belgrade-based Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies had been invited to Georgia by the East-West Management Institute of the United States Agency for International Development programme last month to “train domestic civil groups and individuals for a planned unrest” in Tbilisi this fall.
Iraikli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said Georgia was a “sovereign, independent” state where the Government would ensure “peace and tranquillity” and “not allow either a revolution or [an opening of] a second front [amid the war in Ukraine]”.
The Georgian Parliament on Wednesday approved amendments in the domestic Law on Assembly and Manifestation banning installation of “temporary constructions” during rallies on specific occasions in the first of three readings.
Givi Mikanadze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Education and Science Committee, on Thursday said amendments to the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations, on review by the legislative body, were focused on the “protection of human life” and “in no way” restricted “peaceful assembly and demonstrations”.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Tuesday signed a decree terminating the citizenship of the United States-sanctioned former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze, as well as vetoed the amendments to the law of Georgia on Assemblies and Manifestations, the Presidential Administration said.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday claimed President Salome Zourabichvili had “already declared she is backing a revolution” in the country, and alleged those opposing the recent bill limiting installation of constructions during public rallies were “looking for unrest in the country”.
Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said “any attempt” of Government overthrow from groups “both inside and outside the country” would “fail”, in reaction to comments by the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili on an alleged presence of a subversive group in the country with the goal.
Georgian MPs from the Trust Group, a domestic defence and security platform in the Parliament, expressed their appreciation on Wednesday for the "highly effective coordination” demonstrated by the country's State Security Service in “thwarting all terrorism threats".