The BBC findings must be urgently investigated by an independent body, - the European Parliament’s permanent rapporteur on Georgia, MEP Rasa Juknevičienė, writes on social media.

“The extent to which Georgian Dream is willing to go to capture the state and silence the resilient Georgian people is shocking. Full-on Lukashenka style. The BBC findings must be urgently investigated by an independent body”, she wrote.

According to the BBC, Georgia's authorities used a World War One-era chemical weapon to quell anti-government protesters last year, evidence gathered by the BBC suggests. Demonstrators against the Georgian government's suspension of its European Union accession bid have complained of other symptoms too - shortness of breath, coughing, and vomiting that lasted for weeks.”

The BBC World Service has spoken to chemical weapons experts, whistleblowers from Georgia's riot police, and doctors, and found the evidence points to the use of an agent that the French military named "camite".