President Knocks Smear Campaign Launched against Him

The President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, made a statement Wednesday, saying he is the target of a “dirty” PR campaign.

“The Georgian society has clearly seen the wave of another black campaign in recent days, which was launched disgracefully and ended poorly,” Margvelashvili stated, adding he expects to become the target of smear campaigns many times to come.

Earlier on Wednesday, Giorgi Abashishvili, Head of the Presidential Administration, stated that the ruling Georgian Dream party, along with the parliamentary minority European Georgia, is carrying out a “dirty” campaign against the President of Georgia.

The parties published the statistics on pardoned convicts by the President, and criticized Margvelashvili after the murder of a 25-year-old woman who was killed on Friday by her stepfather. The criminal had been pardoned by the President in May 2017.

“I, as the Head of the Presidential Administration, declare that we have not received any statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Prosecutor's Office. However, these agencies gave illegal statistics to their mouthpiece politicians,” said Abashishvili.

Vepkhia Bakradze, 45, killed his stepdaughter Tamar Gamrekelashvili right after police issued a restraining order against him. He stabbed the young woman several times in the throat in front of the victim’s two underage children, and then ran away.

The police detained the man the following day and he faces imprisonment from 16 to 18 years for murder and domestic violence.

After the tragic case, Margvelashvili decided to suspend pardoning of inmates who have been convicted for violent crimes.

By Thea Morrison

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President Suspends Pardoning of Inmates Convicted for Violent Crimes