This so-called anti-corruption effort, which we are now witnessing from the Kobakhidze administration, has nothing to do with genuine anti-corruption. What they are calling an anti-corruption campaign is, in reality, being used as a tool for infighting and intra-clan conflict ahead of the elections, said Grigol Gegelia, Foreign Secretary of “Lelo – For a Strong Georgia.”

According to him, “both those who have been arrested and those making the arrests are equally mired in the swamp of corruption and nepotism.”

“The Georgian people know very well that this system and regime have been rotten with corruption for years. But this so-called anti-corruption effort, being pushed by the Kobakhidze administration, has absolutely no connection to real anti-corruption. It is simply a tool in the regime’s internal clan-based struggle. It’s important that we remember: both the arrested and those arresting them are sunk in the same swamp of corruption and nepotism. This supposed anti-corruption campaign is being used ahead of the elections as a means of internal squabbling and clan warfare,” Gegelia stated.

For reference, the State Security Service (SSS) has arrested former Deputy Minister of Defense Giorgi Khaindrava and two other individuals. According to the SSS, based on a court order and following operational-search and investigative measures carried out by its Anti-Corruption Agency, the former Deputy Minister of Defense G.Kh., the former head of the Ministry’s Procurement Department V.Gh., and V.M., a close relative of the then Minister of Defense, have been detained.

According to the agency, the investigation has so far revealed that the criminal group developed and executed a scheme through which 1,333,728 GEL was embezzled from the state budget of Georgia.