State Audit Office Launches Investigation into Legality of 'Patriotic Alliance' Funding

The State Audit Office has launched an investigation into the legality of the funding of the 'Alliance of Patriots of Georgia' party. 

The Audit Service applied to the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia for additional information.

"The State Audit Office continues to actively monitor political parties in the pre-election period. In this particular case, we investigate the information spread by the Russian edition 'Dossier.' The investigation has started, we will conduct all the activities within the framework of our mandate,” the State Audit Office said. 

Recently, the opposition party 'European Georgia' applied to the Prosecutor's Office with a request to launch an investigation against the 'Alliance of Patriots of Georgia' party. Moreover, opposition parties in Georgia demand the 'Alliance of Patriots' be prohibited from running in the October parliamentary elections. 

The reason for this was the information spread by the Russian edition 'Dossier', based on which the 'Alliance of Patriots' was receiving pre-election advice and money from the Kremlin.

The publication reads that the party demanded $8 million from Moscow to finance their run in the 2020 elections. The article does not clarify specifically who is paying or whether this money has already been paid.

At the same time, 'Dossier' reports that the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia has hired political strategist Sergey Mikheev and the Moscow company POLITSECRETS to promote the party.

By Ana Dumbadze 

Image: Irma Inashvili, the leader of 'Alliance of Patriots' 

Related Story: Elections: Opposition Alleges Alliance of Patriots Will Be Funded by the Kremlin