Mayor Kaladze: any misconduct by police will always be followed by appropriate response

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze says any misconduct by police officers is met with a prompt response from the state.

Commenting on footage circulated by a media outlet allegedly showing police violence, Kaladze said the actions seen in the video were “very bad” and unacceptable.

“What we saw is very bad and cannot withstand criticism. It is important that the state reacted immediately. As we saw in the Interior Ministry’s statement, all three individuals have been held accountable. Any misconduct by police, as in this case, is followed by an appropriate response. As soon as the incident was identified, the General Inspection obtained the relevant evidence and immediate action was taken,” Kaladze said.

He also accused a television channel of manipulating the issue to provoke public unrest.

“A second regrettable fact is that a specific TV channel knew about this and had been informed by the relevant agency, but deliberately did not publish it. The reason is simple — they wanted to provoke public tension. This is not the first time certain media outlets have manipulated issues. These channels are driven by an agenda of daily lies and defamation,” he added.