The BBC has responded to the lawsuit filed by the Georgian Dream, Formula TV reports.

As a BBC spokesperson stated to the TV company, they support the journalism presented in the documentary film “When Water Burns: The Fight for Georgia”.

“In accordance with the established complaints procedure, we can confirm that we have already responded to the complainant’s questions. We stand by the journalism presented in the BBC Eye documentary ‘When Water Burns: The Fight for Georgia’ and our independent, investigative journalism about the Georgian government’s response to the ongoing protests in Tbilisi,” a BBC spokesperson said.

The complaint concerns an article and documentary published by the BBC that alleged that the Georgian government used World War I-era chemical weapons to quell anti-government protests in 2024. As the BBC writes, demonstrators protesting against the Georgian government’s suspension of its EU accession process complained of a range of symptoms including burning eyes, shortness of breath, coughing and vomiting that lasted for weeks. According to the BBC, the World Service spoke to Chemical weapons experts, Georgian special forces, and doctors found that evidence points to the use of an agent that the French military called ‘camite.’ Georgian Dream said at a briefing on January 15 that it had filed a complaint with the media.