Parliamentary majority leader Mamuka Mdinaradze confirms that Georgian Dream MPs Irakli Zarkua and Viktor Sanikidze have returned to Georgia and that they were fined for the incident in Abu Dhabi.

As he told journalists, the MPs spent a day and a half at the police station due to the incident, and then stayed at a hotel.

“Both are in Tbilisi. They have never been in custody. There were quite intensive investigative activities for two days. They were at the police station in Abu Dhabi, then they were at the hotel, then the legal proceedings were completed, they left Abu Dhabi and are in Tbilisi. They spent a day and a half at the police station. The legal proceedings have been completed and both sides were fined. The fine is not as big as reports say. Moreover, it is not even an approximate amount. They are lawbreakers, but not criminals. Nothing justifies anyone... If someone attacks me, I will definitely respond. Violence can never be justified. It is difficult for a Georgian man to endure swearing,” said Mamuka Mdinaradze.

Earlier today, Main Channel reported that Georgian Dream MPs Irakli Zarkua and Viktor Sanikidze had returned to Tbilisi after being ordered to pay a fine of $80,000.

Georgian Dream MPs Irakli Zarkua, Viktor Sanikidze and Gela Samkharauli physically confronted citizen Lasha Gabitashvili on January 13, in Abu Dhabi. Video footage of the incident was released via social media.

The incident took place in a hotel dining room. The footage shows that Irakli Zarkua threw food at Lasha Gabitashvili during dinner and physically confronted him, and then Viktor Sanikidze got involved in the fight.

Later, Lasha Gabitashvili released a video message in which he said that the fight was related to the incident that occurred the previous day, when he called Irakli Zarkua and Viktor Sanikidze “Russian slaves.” For information, during the first confrontation, the parties verbally abused each other.