European Georgia opposition office attacked
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, October 10
The European Georgia parliamentary opposition has announced that an armed man attacked the party election office in the country’s eastern Telavi region.
The party stressed that the attacker demanded that opposition activists suspend their work; otherwise he would use the weapon.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first case when members of the European Georgia party are attacked and threatened. This is the continuation of the Georgian Dream ruling government’s several-years practice, when instead of punishment, those committing violence are encouraged and carrying out violation on political opponents is the normal fact,” the European Georgia stated.
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has released a special statement on the event, stressing that the attacker used a “toy pistol.”
"An investigation has been launched in Telavi Regional Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). The suspect has already been identified and a toy weapon was seized during a personal search,” the Ministry stated.
The European Georgia is composed of former members of the United National Movement party, the party which ran Georgia for nine years, as well as new faces.
After the division in the wake of the 2016 parliamentary elections, the European Georgia party said it distanced itself from the country’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Former Mayor of Tbilisi, who spent several years in prison, Gigi Ugulava,is one of the key figures of European Georgia.
The party is set to participate in the October 21 local elections, and presented Elene Khoshtaria as the party nominee for Tbilisi Mayor’s post.
