Ex-PM Giorgi Gakharia offers to testify remotely before Parliamentary Investigative Commission

Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has expressed willingness to once again testify before the ruling Georgian Dream-created parliamentary investigative commission, this time regarding the controversial Chorchana observation post. However, he has requested to do so remotely, as he is currently abroad on a pre-scheduled visit.

Gakharia’s party For Georgia released a statement reaffirming his readiness to participate in the June 23 hearing online, citing the commission’s own rules that allow remote testimony. They also noted that during a prior summons in April 2025, the commission itself had offered remote participation. Gakharia previously testified on April 14 for over six hours.

Despite this, the commission formally rejected his request on June 22 and insisted on his physical presence at the session on June 23, a demand the party called unjustified if the commission’s intent is truly to clarify the Chorchana issue.

At the earlier hearing, commission chair Tea Tsulukiani, a Georgian Dream MP and former Culture Minister, accused Gakharia — who was Interior Minister in 2019 — of unilaterally authorizing the opening of the Chorchana checkpoint, allegedly escalating tensions along the administrative boundary with Russian-occupied South Ossetia. She and other commission members claimed the decision was made without coordination with then Prime Minister or the State Security Service.

In response, Gakharia insisted that “everyone was informed” and said the road to the outpost was constructed by the Ministry of Infrastructure. He justified the move by pointing to ongoing illegal patrols by Russian forces in the surrounding forest and the risk of de facto annexation using newly produced maps from 1992, which, he said, could have resulted in the loss of 1,800 hectares of Georgian forest.

Two months after Gakharia’s appearance, former Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, who headed the State Security Service at the time, was also questioned by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Gomelauri reportedly opposed the construction of the tower at Chorchana, citing fears it could provoke military conflict. He claimed that even then–Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze was unaware of the decision to build the post and access road.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the ongoing investigation into the Chorchana case covers multiple serious allegations, including:

- Sabotage and attempted sabotage under aggravating circumstances

- Assisting hostile activities of foreign-controlled organizations

- Mobilizing financial support for activities against Georgia’s constitutional order and national security.