Police investigating attack on ex-official Merabishvili

The Georgian interior ministry on Thursday said it was investigating an alleged assault on former interior minister Vano Merabishvili in central Tbilisi on Monday. 

The Rustavi 2 TV channel said Gigisha Sharashidze, a son-in-law of former opposition figure and a host in Imedi TV Gia Gachechiladze, assaulted Merabishvili in a pharmacy on January 2, with the alleged offender confirming the incident. 

Sharashidze has refused to name the reason resulting in the attack. 

Merabishvili, who served as the country’s interior minister between 2004 and 2012 and the prime minister in several months of 2012, left prison in 2020 after serving seven years for several crimes, including abuse of power and covering up evidence.