Man, who violently assaulted Formula TV founder, presenter, and commentator Misha Mshvildadze stepped forward with a statement literally identical to the one made by the assailant on Zurab Girchi Japaridze, leader of Girchi – More Freedom party, who was attacked on June 17.
"I am Nikoloz Gugeshashvili, a man from Gldani [Tbilisi district], the father of 4 children. Yesterday I was at Vazha Pshavela [avenue], near Carrefour, where I beat Misha Msvildadze. The reason for the beating is that he refers to the church as a criminal and says that the cross is a symbol of violence, curses the patriarch, the Georgian nation, and protects the sodomy, as well as he curses me and my friends on Facebook. That's why he got hit. I am not going to hide anywhere," Gugeshashvili wrote on Facebook.
The text is identical to a statement issued by a man named Soso Maisuradze who assaulted Zurab Girchi Japaridze, fueling concerns the entire wave of political violence is Government-coordinated.
A source informed Formula TV the assault on Japaridze specifically was carried out by the Shida Kartli regional division of the State Security Service of Georgia.
Following the attacks, Georgian Dream leaders refused to unequivocally condemn violence.
Moreover, Dimitri Samkharadze, a key Georgian Dream MP believed to be linked with some violent groups called for even more, promising to “eat heads” of opponents.
“I will never condemn violence on enemies of Georgia. On the contrary, I will promote it and call upon everyone to give a proper answer to enemies of the fatherland! I will not condemn violence upon those who have abused and insulted my family! I have not and I will never! Whoever will hit me in the right cheek – I will eat his head. None of the Georgian Dream members have insulted our opponents first, there are no such facts! We only react and return a ten-fold quality response when we are mistreated,” Samkharadze wrote on Facebook.
While condemning violence in principle, Georgian Dream chair Irakli Kobakhidze accused opponents of provoking it referring to them as “trash.”
"Whose interest is it to not allow peace [in the country]? It is, naturally, a radical opposition that has been stirring up radicalism since the day of the elections. Subjectively, our interest is to rule this country peacefully. Some really rubbish people come out and call [us] sometimes Russian, sometimes Putinist, sometimes corrupt. They are corrupt themselves, those people who handed over 20% [of Georgian land] to the Russian Federation. These really trash individuals should call me Putinist and I should not respond?" Mr Kobakhidze stated fueling fears of future violence.
Zurab Japaridze was attacked on June 17 in Gori, while travelling to a youth camp.
Shortly after, on the same day, a group of Georgian Dream-linked men shouted abuse, made lewd gestures, and threw stones at the liberal educational youth camp.
On the same day, students who had disrupted GD Chair Irakli Kobakhidze's lecture at the university were assaulted and beaten by Georgian Dream supporters and one of them was later threatened at the hospital by a man brandishing a police officer.
On June 20, a liberal scholar and literature professor Levan Berdzenishvili was egged and insulted while exiting the university.
Misha Mshvildadze, the host of the parody news program, was struck in the face on June 27 while entering a supermarket.
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