One of the individuals involved describes what triggered the verbal altercation with police in Gori, which later escalated into a physical assault against him and his friend.

According to Lasha Abisonashvili, the conflict began after a police vehicle followed his friend, who was on break from work.

Abisonashvili says he tried to help his friend, but was also physically assaulted.

“They beat me and my friend badly. They ‘sent the car after him,’ and that led to an argument, after which they beat him severely. I was trying to intervene, and then they beat me too. My friend is 28-29 years old, he had left work during his break and was walking back to work. The conversation was like: ‘Why did you drive the car at me?’ Then the fight started and I came over. It was just the two of us. I don’t know the reason why they beat us. I am sure he doesn’t know either. He was not handcuffed during the incident. I have injuries on my head and leg. If I was guilty too, why was I released?” Abisonashvili said.

Regarding reports that one of them had a cold weapon, Abisonashvili denies this.

“After the fight they let me go. My friend was probably taken to the police station. I think he is in a very bad condition. I did not see clearly - everyone who arrived was beating us. At first it looked like they were trying to de-escalate, but then everyone used force.

I came across this incident by chance. They did not even intend to detain me - they said ‘let him go.’ They verbally insulted me, they were swearing at me.

My friend has never had any conflict before. He said the police car was driven toward him and he waved his hand. Then he probably told them ‘what are you doing?’ He also said he works at Bank of Georgia and would call a lawyer, and that apparently made them more aggressive,” he told Kartli News.

For context, in Gori’s so-called Kombinati settlement, two individuals were physically assaulted by a group of law enforcement officers. Footage of the incident was shared on social media by “Kartli News.” The Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into alleged abuse of power involving police violence.