Georgia slams BBC report as “dirty provocation”

Georgian officials have strongly rejected a BBC report alleging the use of “сamite” tactics against protesters in Tbilisi in 2024, calling the claims false, misleading, and politically motivated, and signalling the government’s intent to defend its international reputation.

Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia party lawmaker George Gabunia said that a report by BBC suggesting the possible use of “сamite” tactics to suppress protests in Tbilisi in 2024 is a “dirty provocation” aimed at damaging the country’s international reputation, Caliber.Az reports, citing Sputnik Georgia.

He claimed that the BBC segment deliberately spread slanderous accusations with the sole purpose of undermining Georgia’s global standing, and that all authors and participants involved must be held accountable.

Following the release of the report, the Georgian Dream party announced plans to file a lawsuit against the BBC in international courts.

“BBC must prepare for a long legal process. Everyone involved who consciously attempted to attribute the most serious and unfounded accusations to Georgia in the segment must face consequences for defamation,” Gabunia emphasised.

Echoing this, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Darakhvelidze said that an investigation by the State Security Service confirmed the allegations were “blatant lies.”

He noted that the investigation addressed all questions and found that the Ministry of Internal Affairs acted in accordance with the law.

“More than 160 investigative actions were carried out, around 90 people were questioned, examinations were conducted, and all relevant documentation was requested. The use of prohibited substances containing ‘сamite,’ banned since World War I, was not confirmed,” Darakhvelidze said.

President of Georgia, Mikheil Kavelashvili, also weighed in, describing the BBC segment as a response from the “deep state” to the government’s refusal to follow its directives.

He said the segment was part of targeted disinformation, similar to past campaigns that falsely portrayed former President Mikheil Saakashvili as being in critical condition and mistreated, which drew international protests.

For context, the BBC released an investigative report alleging that Georgian authorities may have used “сamite” during the 2024 Tbilisi protests.

The BBC investigation interviewed chemical weapons experts, former Ministry of Internal Affairs employees, as well as doctors, and collected data purportedly indicating the use of bromobenzylcyanide.

In response, a criminal case was opened in Georgia, which was investigated by the State Security Service (SSG) of Georgia.

According to the investigation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia acquired chlorobenzalmalononitrile together with the solvent trichloroethylene from an Israeli company in 2007 and 2009, and this substance was allegedly used in Georgia for dispersing protesters with water cannons.

Within the framework of the criminal case investigation regarding both the information presented in the BBC report and the campaign conducted in Georgia based on it, more than 160 investigative actions were carried out, 93 witnesses were interviewed, and up to 25 samples were seized for examination from the bases of the first and second departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Special Tasks Department. 

By Jeyhun Aghazada