UNM members attacked
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, May 28
Member of the National Movement Zurab Tchiaberashvili and Professor Nodar Ladaria have been hospitalized after the incident that took place at the Literature Cafe on Abashidze Street, on May 27. The individuals who attacked them have already been identified. Members of the United National Movement link the incident with the political pursuit of the opposition from the Georgian Dream. The Ministry of Interior Affairs has already started an investigation.
Tchiaberashvili is one of the faces of the UNM. He took high state positions. He was Georgia’s Ambassador to European Institutions in Strasburg, later in Switzerland and served as healthcare minister and the governor of the Kakheti region.
Tchiaberashvili stressed that two men, named Rezo Tabukashvili and Gio Mgeladze, rushed into the cafe. One of the individuals, namely Tabukashvili, held a cup with hot water in his hand, poured the water on Ladaria and then struck Tchiaberashvili in the head with it repeatedly.
“They said that we do not have the right to walk freely in the streets,” Tchiaberashvili stated.
Tabukashvili comes from the well-known families in Georgia. His father Lasha Tabukashvili stated that he did not have any information regarding the fact, and was surprised as his son had no direct connection with Tchiaberashvili. Later Lasha Tabukashvlli stated that his son should be punished. He highlighted that his family was always against violence.
Member of the UNM Khatuna Gogorishvili states that no one is punished for such crimes in the country under the new government and the incident just encourages more attacks on the opposition politicians.
Fellow member of the UNM Sergo Ratiani claims that the coalition is using the language of violence in terms of its political opponents and provokes public aggression regarding the members of the former government.
Government members deny any encouragement to commit such crimes, stating that the case would be investigated by police officials.
The incident has been widely responded to on social networks. Many people commenting on the issue supported the people who attacked Tchiaberashvili and Ladaria. The major sentiment was that if Tchiaberashvili and other members of the UNM would have been arrested on time, they would have avoided such attacks.
Head of the Elections and Political Technologies Research Centre, Kakha Kakhishvili states that the new government has failed to restore justice and unfortunately, people will launch revenge attacks on the former officials on their own.
