Georgia: Former Prime Minister Assaulted, Opposition Blames Ruling Party Members

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Above: Former Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia arrives at a polling station during the parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia on Oct. 26, 2024. Image copyright: Mirian Meladze/Anadolu/Contributor via Getty Images

The Facts

  • Georgia's opposition For Georgia party has claimed that its leader, former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, was assaulted by members of the ruling Georgian Dream party on Tuesday in an alleged politically motivated attack to intimidate the opposition.

  • Gakharia suffered a broken nose and a concussion after an incident at the Sheraton Hotel in Batumi, on the Black Sea coast. It's still unclear how exactly it started, with the two parties pointing fingers at each other.

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The Spin

Narrative A

While Gakharia is fine now, the brutal assault against him is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the ruling Georgian Dream party has done to the people of the country. Georgians and the international community must focus on and support those unlawfully arrested by the authoritarian regime.

Giorgi Gakharia on X

Narrative B

It's outrageous that the opposition is relying on false narratives to deceive the public at home and abroad and destabilize the country. It was Gakharia who initiated violence as he threw a drink at Georgian Dream's Dimitri Samkharadze. Though no one wants such an incident to take place, the reaction was fully justified.

Interpress

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