UNM Claims Ruling Team Physically Abused Its Members

TBILISI - Two members of the Georgia's main opposition party - former President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM) were taken to hospital Tuesday night, having been allegedly beaten by ruling party Georgian Dream (GD) members.

The incident took place in Vazisubani, near the office of GD majoritarian candidate Irakli Abuseridze. The police have launched an investigation.

According to UNM majoritarian candidate Giorgi Oniani, the abused men were his team members and were “brutally beaten by around 30 GD members armed with batons” at the GD office, when his team members came out of a nearby supermarket. Oniani says that the incident had political background.

“After falsification of the parliamentary elections, GD started revenge instead of keeping their promises given to the citizens,” Oniani stated.

Oniani asked the investigators to release videos taken by street surveillance cameras, in order to prove the UNM did not provoke the GD members.

The UNM says the two affected members were discharged from the hospital.

The ruling team responded to the allegations, saying this was “a staged provocation by the UNM.”

GD majoritarian candidate Irakli Abuseridze says the clash was initiated by the two members of the UNM, saying they were drunk and very aggressive.

The GD office has also released a photo allegedly showing those UNM members that were involved in the incident. 

“This is not the first provocation from the United Movement…My team members have absolutely nothing to do with this incident. We went out when the fight was over,” Abuseridze explained.

Irakli Kobakhidze, GD Executive Secretary, said the UNM members wanted to provoke Abuseridze and his team and started throwing stones at the GD office.

“This is provocation…Oniani himself is a zonder who used to raid people when the UNM was in power,” Kobakhidze stressed.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry launched an investigation under Article 125. The police have not arrested anyone yet but they say the people involved in the incident have already been identified.

 By Thea Morrison

Photo: GD released a photo, saying the two people in red circle are the UNM members who started the provocation at the GD office in Vazisubani. Source: 2030