The chair of the party “Gakharia for Georgia” and former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia says that the accusations brought against him are coordinated with Russia and the occupation regime.

In particular, Gakharia is responding to a statement by Igor Kochiev, the head of the so-called South Ossetian “delegation,” who expressed hope that the “Georgian police post in the village of Uista will be dismantled.”

“At today’s IPRM meeting, the Tskhinvali occupation regime once again expressed hope that the Chorchana checkpoint - which was installed under my leadership to prevent further occupation - will be removed by the government of ‘Georgian Dream.’ This checkpoint, located on Georgian territory, protected our land from illegal seizure and safeguarded the Georgian population living in the surrounding area from creeping occupation. The accusations brought against me over the Chorchana case constitute political persecution and a direct attack on Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, which is clearly coordinated with Russia and the occupation regime,” Gakharia wrote on social media.

For reference, when summarizing the 130th meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), the head of the so-called Tskhinvali “delegation,” Igor Kochiev, reiterated that “there is hope that the illegal Georgian police checkpoint near the South Ossetian village of Uista will be removed.”

“Among the issues we raised is the illegal presence of a Georgian police checkpoint on South Ossetian territory, near the village of Uista. So far, no breakthrough has occurred, but there is some hope that we will be able to persuade the Georgian side and that this checkpoint will be dismantled,” Kochiev said, according to media reports.