UNM Member Shashkin Seen with a Gun Near a Polling Station

A photo was distributed on social networks today showing Dimitri Shashkin, a member of the National Movement Party, in Talaveri village, the Bolnisi district of the Kvemo Kartli region, with a gun together with his supporters.

The photo was taken at a polling station. Shashkin confirmed the information. He said that he always carried the gun and he had the relevant permit.

He denied the information that he intended to enter the polling station since he was an MP candidate.

"Dimitri Shashkin has the right and is allowed to carry a weapon. I also carry a weapon," Kakha Okriashvili, the majoritarian candidate of the National Movement in Dmanisi, Tsalka, Bolnisi and Tetritskaro, told a journalist. 

"Why do Dimitri Shashkin and Kakha Okriashvili need weapons when they go to the polls? Any MP, former law enforcer, etc., has the right to carry a weapon, but when it comes to the election process, naturally, each of us has a special responsibility and it is inadmissible for anyone to go there with a gun," said Irakli Kobakhidze, a representative of the ruling team.

He added that "There are logical doubts about the destructive intentions." Kobakhidze says any such attempts will be severely punished by law.

By Ana Dumbadze