“Thank you all for your support. I feel fine health-wise. Right now, the focus should be on supporting the illegally detained prisoners,” wrote Giorgi Gakharia, leader of the opposition party “For Georgia,” on social media on January 15.
The previous evening, he was attacked and brutally beaten in the lobby of the Sheraton hotel in Batumi. The politician was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion and a broken nose. However, Gakharia refused hospitalization and left the clinic after receiving first aid.
Gela Mtivlishvili, editor of the online publication “Mtis ambebi,” reported that Gakharia was attacked by “Georgian Dream” parliament member Dito Samkharadze and Giorgi Manvelidze, a member of the Supreme Council of Adjara from the same party.
Natia Mezvrishvili, vice chairwoman of “For Georgia,” issued a fiery statement regarding the incident.
“You will all be held accountable for this; you have no idea how many mistakes you’ve made. There will be no mercy, I promise you! It won’t be 24 hours before you’re detained and interrogated. You have no idea what a big mistake you’ve made, Ivanishvili. I will personally put you in the defendant’s chair!” Mezvrishvili wrote.
