If this had a systemic nature, there would have been not one victimized journalist, but many. Law enforcement agencies follow reality, not a PR campaign, - Mamuka Mdinaradze, State Minister for Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies, said when commenting on the arrest of 5 police officers for violence against politician Levan Khabeishvili, journalist Guram Rogava, and protester Zviad Maisashvili.

As Mdinaradze noted, if there were anyone who had ordered all this and if there were relevant evidence, the government would not hesitate to arrest them, which is also confirmed by the recent arrests of high-ranking officials.

"In the criminal case that is being conducted in this direction, there is no direct or even indirect evidence to support the conclusion that someone gave the special forces orders to harm or attack people. Therefore, in the absence of even indirect evidence, the investigation is deprived of the opportunity to identify any person who gave orders. This is just part of a PR campaign on the part of those who, I am sure, did not like the correct approach of the state. If there was a customer in this case and there was relevant evidence, we would probably all believe that we would not hold back because of this, we have a practice of this, including the recent detention of high-ranking officials, where there were signs of a crime. No one can accuse us of avoiding someone when a crime is evident. Therefore, if there is one piece of evidence, law enforcement officers will follow that one piece of evidence, but if there is no such evidence, naturally, No one can do this against the backdrop and on the basis of a PR campaign. It seems that the evidence also indicates that these were private initiatives and individual cases. For example, if this had a systemic nature, there would not have been one victimized journalist, there would have been many, etc. Therefore, law enforcement agencies follow reality, not a PR campaign,” Mdinaradze said.

For information, the Prosecutor’s Office detained 5 people, including 3 former and one current special forces officer, as well as one current employee of the Security Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in connection with the events developed during the 2024 rallies. The corresponding statement was made by Prosecutor General of Georgia Giorgi Gvarakidze at the briefing held at the office. According to the Prosecutor General, two of the five are already in custody as part of investigations ongoing into various criminal cases.