Pro-Ruling Party Figure Arrested Over Supermarket Violence
Police said on November 5 that they arrested Manana (Mancho) Giorgobiani, a prominent figure supportive of the ruling Georgian Dream party, over organizing and participating in violence against supermarket staff.
The Interior Ministry said Giorgobiani verbally assaulted local supermarket staff and then contacted an acquaintance, after which a group of men arrived, dragged two employees outside, and physically attacked them. The arrest comes a day after Giorgobiani targeted Georgian Dream Interior Minister Geka Geladze on social media, issuing verbal threats against Geladze and the ministry.
An investigation is underway under Article 225 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which covers organizing, managing, or participating in group violence, and Article 126, which covers acts of violence, the ministry said. If convicted, Giorgobiani could face up to nine years in prison. The ministry added that six other individuals involved in the incident have also been identified.
The ministry also released video footage showing a woman with her face blurred, allegedly Giorgobiani, verbally abusing supermarket employees. In the footage, she is heard shouting insults such as “go to your country” and threatening to “call boys” to “tear them apart,” before physically confronting the staff as she is pushed outside.
The footage then shows a group of men approaching a cashier, dragging him outside, and beating him, while the woman points at another employee and accuses him of also “raising a hand” against her. According to the official report, the two assaulted employees were born in 2004 and 2006.
On November 4, Giorgobiani’s social media post, no longer publicly available, went viral after she publicly attacked Georgian Dream Interior Minister Geka Geladze, reportedly over police stopping one of her family members in the street.
She reportedly wrote, among other things, that Geladze had “reinstated the Saakashvili‑era police and subjected us to iron shackles.” Addressing Geladze as “Gelka,” she accused him of having “let it go to [his] head” and warned she would “blow the entire MIA in the air and demote [Geladze] from the minister’s post.”
Giorgobiani was a staunch supporter of the ruling Georgian Dream party and frequently praised its founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, as well as the party’s activities in her social media posts.
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