Givi Targamadze accuses gov’t of using his case to influence elections

Former MP Givi Targamadze has accused the Georgian government of attempting to influence the upcoming parliamentary elections by reviving his 2016 assassination attempt case for a second time.

Targamadze claims that the authorities are cynically using the same incident to sway public opinion ahead of elections once again.

“It’s pure cynicism that they are trying to use the same terrorist attack to influence not one, but two elections. It won’t work this time. The people I accused of involvement in my case initially denied it, but now they’ve admitted it,” said Targamadze.

According to him, this admission indirectly confirms the involvement of ex-Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and his father-in-law, Tamaz Tamazashvili, in the plot. Targamadze claims that Tamazashvili, who held influence over criminal groups since former President Shevardnadze’s era, acted as a liaison for the group involved in the 2016 attempt on his life.

“They’ve always worked closely with the Russians, which makes it clear to me that Russian involvement in the attack on me was real,” Targamadze added.

This comes after a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office that a suspect in the case had provided key information to the investigation. According to the office, the accused individual’s testimony confirmed that the order to monitor and follow Targamadze in 2016 came directly from former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The 2016 assassination attempt, which targeted Targamadze with a car bomb days before parliamentary elections, was unsuccessful and resulted in no casualties.