Security Service Says Foreign-Guided Criminals Plan to “Sacrifice 2-3 People,” Blame it on Government
The Georgian State Security Service issued a statement that says its “ongoing probe” on “violent overthrow of power” revealed that the unnamed “organizers of destructive and criminal acts” plan to resort to extreme forms of violence this week, including a “sacrifice of 2-3 people” to disrupt the inauguration of the new president.
Background: Elections, Protests
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the patron of the Georgian Dream, announced his decision to install Mikheil Kavelashvili, a radicalized ex-footballer, as the country’s sixth president. The rump GD parliament, whose legitimacy is challenged and boycotted by the opposition, said the elections will be held on December 14. The 300-member electoral college is supposed to vote for the new president, and the opposition said it won’t take up its seats reserved for local governments. The incumbent President, Salome Zurabishvili, says her mandate continues until the new parliament is elected through free and fair elections.
The mass protests have been raging in Tbilisi for the past 12 days after GD’s Irakli Kobakhidze announced the intention to halt the EU accession process. Hundreds were arrested, and the majority were beaten, according to the Public Defender. Watchdogs report that the perpetrators of police violence operate with “impunity,” while the detained are not allowed due process of law.
For the background, also read:
Due to the particular sensitivity of the issue and the revealing nature of the statement itself, we translate SSS statement in full:
“Driven by the interests of state security and the peaceful cohabitation of citizens, we have shared with the public several times in the past the materials gathered concerning the case opened on facts of violent overthrow of power.
We want to inform you that given the diminishing protest charge at the ongoing manifestation in Tbilisi, at the parliament building, a certain group of domestic actors implementing the criminal plan is getting activated, with the aim of artificially boosting the protest charge in the society, which, in their opinion, should be used for the violent overthrow of the government. The clear proof is the violent acts committed against law enforcement and peaceful citizens by the intentionally well-covered-up persons that have proliferated concomitantly with the decrease of the protest charge and took place at the locations of protest but also beyond. Of particular importance was the attack on journalists representing one of the television stations, which we consider to be an episode of the mentioned criminal plan, but fortunately ended without fatalities. Special Investigative Service (SIS) is in charge of this case. We declare our readiness to actively cooperate with this service, so that the objective truth is established in the shortest possible time.
According to the information we received, the mentioned organizers of the destructive and criminal acts are planning to prevent December 14, 2024, with all means possible, the election of the sixth president of Georgia, which would artificially trigger a crisis. For this aim, the organizers of crime are planning to trigger maximum tension on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and also partially on Friday this week, which should result in the death of two or three people. With this sacrifice, they will try to boost the tensions and encourage radicalization, which, they calculate, would transform into uncontrollable processes that would then be implicitly blamed on the government.
These processes are being implemented by local actors through coordination of the foreign states’ special services. This plan is being enacted through well-tested scenarios of so-called “colored revolutions,” including some ritual acts and accelerated destruction, which would culminate in the murder of peaceful citizens and would contribute to general escalation.
The abovementioned is being confirmed by the acts of destruction of surveillance cameras by the masked destructive groups both in the area of protest and beyond, which can serve only one objective – to prevent the identification of the criminals if the criminal acts were to be committed.
We are calling on the population to exercise maximum vigilance so that, willingly or unwittingly, they do not become the participant or a victim of the criminal plan. Also, in the interests of personal safety to record every suspicious situation or an attempt at provocation through the technical means available to them and to immediately approach law enforcement bodies.”
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)