Giorgi Gakharia, the former prime minister under the Georgian Dream authorities and the founder of the For Georgia opposition party, on Friday said seven years after the brutal murder of Georgian citizen Giga Otkhoria by Russian-controlled occupation forces near de facto Abkhazia, “instead of holding offenders accountable for the crime”, the country's current government had allowed the landing of a Russian plane in Tbilisi airport. 

The comment came following the Russia-based Azimuth airline jet’s landing in Tbilisi airport, bringing Russian nationals and Georgian pro-Russian activists in Georgia, in the wake of the Kremlin’s move last week to lift travel and visa restrictions with Georgia.  “If anyone thinks they will try to change the development vector of the country chosen by its people and hide from responsibility, they are mistaken. The responsibility will be personified and this applies to everyone, and above all, to the hidden [former prime minister, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina] Ivanishvili, who manages this process with his proxies”, Gakharia said. 

“The Georgian people will definitely protect the freedom, peace and European future of our country”,he added in his social media post. 

The opposition and the public plans to gather in central Tbilisi in a rally later today to protest the resumption of direct flights with Russia.