Four people injured in clash at regional headquarters of Georgian ruling party

Four people were injured in the eastern Georgian town of Dmanisi during an incident near the campaign headquarters of the majoritarian candidate from the ruling Georgian Dream party, Gogi Meshveliani.

According to Meshveliani, it all started after several strangers came to the headquarters with a request to meet with the chief of staff.

A verbal exchange followed, which then escalated into a fight and shooting.

Meshveliani says the attack was organized by the opposition United National Movement (the party of former President Mikheil Saakashvili).

According to him, among the wounded are both activists of the Georgian Dream and members of the opposition.

“This has the handwriting of the United National Movement and my opponent [Kakha Okriashvili is the UNM majoritarian candidate from Bolnisi, Dmanisi, Tetritskaro and Tsalka], which is easy to identify,” Meshveliani told reporters.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, one of the leaders of the Georgian Dream, in an interview with Imedi TV also spoke about the provocation. According to him, “a few hours ago in Dmanisi several drunk people broke into our headquarters”.

The oppositional TV channel Mtavari tells another version of what happened.

According to the TV channel, the confrontation took place within the Georgian Dream – among supporters and activists of the ruling party.

According to the channel, one of the participants in the confrontation is Zurab Okmelashvili, who is associated with the “thief-in-law world” and criminal circles. As Mtavari notes, it was Okmelashvili who wounded several people using firearms.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs launched an investigation into the case under two articles of the Criminal Code – 236 (illegal carrying of weapons) and 117 (deliberate infliction of grievous bodily harm).

Dmanisi is located in the Kvemo Kartli region. It is a region where a number of violent outbreaks connected to elections have occurred in recent weeks.

For example, the journalist of the Mtavari TV channel Jeyhun Mukhammadali was beaten on September 29 in Marneuli near the office of the Georgian Dream. He has injuries to his head, arms, and abdomen. Representatives of the National Movement were injured during the clash in Marneuli and broke the camera of the operator of the Public Broadcaster.

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Parliamentary elections in Georgia are scheduled for October 31. 48 parties and two electoral blocs are participating in the elections.