Man involved in physical altercation with Georgian ruling party MPs stripped of citizenship

Lasha Gabitashvili, who was involved in a physical altercation with Georgian Dream MPs in Abu Dhabi in January, has announced that he has been stripped of his Georgian citizenship. Gabitashvili, who also holds Israeli citizenship through marriage, expressed his dismay at the decision on Monday, which he attributed to the Georgian Dream government.

"I want to share with you another evil decision of the Georgian Dream - they stripped me of my Georgian citizenship, despite the fact that I was born, raised, and have lived and worked in Georgia all my life. The House of Justice made a decision not to renew my Georgian citizenship," Gabitashvili claimed.

He further noted he had obtained Israeli citizenship through his wife but applied to the Georgian House of Justice to retain his Georgian nationality. Despite his request, he claimed that the House of Justice refused to maintain his Georgian citizenship, effectively revoking it.

"I did not renounce my Georgian citizenship, and on the contrary, I stated that I want to retain it, but unfortunately, they refused and stripped me of my citizenship. I will definitely appeal and fight to the end to regain my Georgian citizenship. They cannot take away my homeland," he asserted.