Gogashvili Links Ivanishvili to ex-Deputy Interior Minister Assault, Mukhtarli Kidnapping
Ioseb (Soso) Gogashvili, former deputy head of the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG) who was arrested on July 16, released a statement yesterday alleging the 2017 assault on ex-Deputy Interior Minister Gela Khvedelidze is linked to ex-PM and ruling Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, and that he also ordered the kidnapping of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli.
In the July 26 letter, Gogashvili alleged that Khvedelidze had been beaten for “insulting Bidzina [Ivanishvili] on the phone,” while Mukhtarli was kidnapped by SSG “thugs.” He also claimed that evidence of both incidents was promptly deleted.
The former deputy head of the SSG said that his own arrest was an example of “another illegal command of Bidzina Ivanishvili performed blindly” by the current Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri, and the Head of the SSG, Grigol Liluashvili. Gogashvili faces charges of exceeding official powers, obtaining, storing, and distributing personal data by using one’s official position, and the illegal purchase and storage of firearms and ammunition.
Mukhtarli responded to Gogashvili’s statement in a Facebook post the same day and said he would urge the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to question Gogashvili in relation to his kidnapping.
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