Opposition-minded channel claims law enforcement engaged in attack on its employee

Georgia’s opposition-minded TV channel on Wednesday claimed an employee of the State Security Service, Giorgi Mumladze, had been engaged in an assault against its co-founder and presenter Misha Mshvildadze in June. 

The channel said Mumladze had been shown on the footage from the spot where Mshvildadze was beaten for “insulting the Patriarch and the church” on June 27, claiming it was part of a “systemic crime” backed by the authorities to “threaten opponents”. 

The channel co-founded by the currently wanted former defence minister David Kezerashvili, claimed Mumladze was working as an investigator in the state agency and had the “whole process” involving Mshvildadze under his control. 

“We would also like to specially appeal to diplomatic missions and ambassadors accredited in Georgia, it was a very sad story that we highlighted, a huge systematic crime, in which representatives of the State Security Service are directly involved,” the channel representatives said, adding they did not trust in the domestic investigation of the case that opened the same day of the attack. 

A Facebook user under the name Nikoloz Gugeshashvili on June 28 posted he had attacked Mshvildadze, tagged the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and claimed he had chosen Mshvildadze as a target because of his public statements, views and attitudes.

The Georgian Interior Ministry on Wednesday was cited by the domestic media as telling the channel to send all materials to the body for the ongoing investigation.