According to former Minister of Defense Tinatin Khidasheli, the questioning before the magistrate judge concerned her statements related to Iran.

As Khidasheli stated to journalists after the completion of the questioning, her goal has been achieved in that they have shown interest in this issue.

Khidasheli hopes that if there is any threat to the country, the relevant agencies will clarify the matter.

“I think in their statement it was clearly said what exactly interested them, so I cannot tell you anything different from that. They were interested in my appearance on Inga [Grigolia]'s broadcast. The questions were only and exclusively on this topic. Questioning is always about factual circumstances. Assessments and arguments may also interest them, but that is not the interesting part. Naturally, answers to these questions are never given. This process is now a legal one. Accordingly, the conduct is also legal. All facts that exist — and if they exist — are available in the public domain. I am a private individual who has access only to information that is publicly available. It is possible that a person may have information from other sources, and that needs to be clarified; therefore, there is no problem in asking questions — this is a normal process. To tell you the truth, I said it in court and I can repeat it now: my task has been accomplished. I wanted — as happens in civilized countries — for someone to sound the alarm about a threat, and then investigative bodies would examine the issue… It seems my task is fulfilled; they have become interested. If any threat exists to the country, let us hope they will clarify it. If not, we will thank everyone that it is clear. We should hope that now they will fundamentally study this issue, and either a problem will be revealed or not,” — stated Khidasheli.

Regarding the question of whether her questioning is an attempt to intimidate her, the former Minister of Defense replied that “they cannot intimidate me in any way.”

“I don’t know what attempts others have; that they cannot intimidate me in any way — I think this has been proven over these 32 years that people have seen me on television screens. I really don’t see any problem in being questioned as a witness on some issue,” — stated Khidasheli.

According to the former Minister of Defense, she never said that terrorists are being trained in Georgia.

“It is a branch of that university — not even a university. Fortunately, it has not received accreditation, but a branch, some kind of entity, is functioning in Georgia that needs to be looked into. I never said anywhere that terrorists are being trained in Georgia. I assure you that this university is sanctioned precisely for this reason by at least three countries — Canada, Germany, the USA — and this document exists,” — stated Khidasheli.

For information: Givi Targamadze, Tina Khidasheli, Gubaz Sanikidze, and Giorgi Kandelaki have been summoned for questioning within the framework of an ongoing investigation under Article 319 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to assistance to a foreign country, a foreign organization, or an organization subordinated to foreign control in hostile activities.