“Where do you find such information? I know that it wasn’t from the First World War - it was from the Battle of Didgori. Maybe even earlier, maybe from the time of King Vakhtang Gorgasali,” - this is how “People’s Power” MP Guram Macharashvili responded to journalists when asked about the BBC publication claiming that “protesters in Georgia were likely targeted with a First World War–era chemical weapon.”

According to Macharashvili, the information presented by the BBC is “fake news.”

“Where do you find such information? Look at what rating the BBC has - check the statement of the President of the United States, learn, study. Look at the level of criticism the U.S. President directs at the BBC. BBC doesn’t care how radical protests are dispersed in America, in European countries - Germany, the UK. They don’t cover that. This is fake news.”

He continued by comparing the BBC to media outlets accused of spreading misinformation in the U.S.:

“Look - Trump received an investor from the Emirates who plans to invest between 600 billion and 1 trillion dollars in the U.S., and one of their ‘TV Pirveli’ or ‘Mtavari Arkhi’ asked him a provocative question. Trump shut it down immediately and told him, ‘You are fake news.’ What can we do - there is fake-news propaganda and fake media in America, in Georgia and everywhere.”

When asked directly whether he confirms or denies the information published by the BBC, Macharashvili replied:

“No. I know that it wasn’t from the First World War - it was from the Battle of Didgori. And we have information that during the Battle of Didgori such a weapon was used - maybe even earlier, maybe from the time of Gorgasali.”

Reminder: The BBC previously reported that evidence collected by the outlet suggests that the Georgian Government used a World War I–era chemical agent to suppress anti-government protests last year. According to the BBC:

Protesters opposing the suspension of EU integration complained of prolonged symptoms, including burning eyes, shortness of breath, coughing, and vomiting.

Experts, security-service representatives, and doctors were interviewed.

Evidence indicated the potential use of a chemical agent known as “cammite,” historically used by the French military during World War I.