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Opposition Member Says Sheraton Hotel Batumi May Be Involved in Cover-Up of Attack on Gakharia

Natia Mezvrishvili, a member of the opposition party Gakharia for Georgia, wrote in a Facebook post that she had been told by the Sheraton Hotel in Batumi they no longer had a copy of the video footage of the January 15 attack on Giorgi Gakharia, leader of the opposition party Gakharia for Georgia. Mezvrishvili suspects that the footage may have been “destroyed or falsified”, suggesting a possible cover-up involving both, the hotel and the government.

She accuses the hotel of complicity in hiding the evidence. According to Mezvrishvili, the hotel had initially assured her that a copy of the video footage would be available even if the police took it in accordance with a court ruling. She said the party had suspected that the hotel was making a deal with the police and could have handed over the footage along with the servers to the police. That’s exactly what happened, Mezvrishvili writes, noting that the hotel has just informed her that it no longer has the footage or the servers containing it, having sent everything to the investigators. “There was no reason to remove the hard drive, except for one thing – destruction or falsification,” Mezvrishvili said.

She also expressed concern about the delay in the investigation, noting that the investigators were “practically hiding” from questioning Giorgi Gakharia, “the wish for which we expressed yesterday”.

“First, the MIA investigator made us wait exactly 3 hours for an answer on whether they would question us or not,” she writes, after which the party representatives learned that the case had been transferred to the prosecutor’s office. The party contacted the prosecutor’s office with the same request and waited until this morning, says Mezvrishvili, when they learned that “the prosecutor is disappearing, and with today’s decision they are rushing to the Sheraton to practically steal the files”.

Giorgi Gakharia was attacked in the Sheraton Batumi Hotel on January 15. GD MP Dimitri Samkharadze and Adjara’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Giorgi Manvelidze, and allegedly several other GD MPs, were involved in an assault on the opposition leader, according to journalist Gela Mtivlishvili, who first reported the incident. Giorgi Gakharia was hospitalized with a broken nose and concussion. His party believes the attack was “politically motivated” recalling Ivanishvili’s earlier warnings of reprisals against the former GD strongman who left the party in 2021 and formed his own, in the opposition.

Mezvrishvili has previously expressed frustration with the investigative process and concerns over the actions of Sheraton hotel in Batumi, where the attack on Giorgi Gakharia happened. On January 18, Mezvrishvili criticized the hotel, stating, “First, Sheraton Batumi Hotel personnel destroyed forensic evidence of the attack against former PM and Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia, and now they are allegedly destroying surveillance footage of the attack!” On the same day, Mezvrishvili remarked, “It has been three days since the attack on Georgia’s former Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs, Giorgi Gakharia, yet the Sheraton Hotel Batumi has failed to disclose or provide the surveillance footage, which Mr. Gakharia is legally entitled to. This action by the hotel raises serious concerns about the integrity of its management and the safety and security of its guests.”

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This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)

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