"Recent arrests have shown that Georgian Dream has turned into a corrupt, rotten, and criminal political regime - one under which independent Georgia has never seen corruption on a scale even comparable to the era of Eduard Shevardnadze," Tazo Datunashvili, one of the leaders of the "Strong Georgia - Lelo" coalition, said at a briefing, responding to a briefing held by the State Security Service.

According to him, the ruling team is engaged in a clan-based conflict with the previous ruling group, and arrests are happening only because of this, while they have no real connection to the fight against corruption.

"Today, the State Security Service arrested 28 people in nine regions of Georgia on corruption charges. Their activities caused approximately 700,000 GEL in damage to the state during Georgian Dream's rule. These individuals are accused of various crimes, including accepting bribes, producing false official documents, group commercial bribery, as well as misappropriation of state funds and land plots.

This case once again confirms that the problem of corruption in Georgia is systemic, and Georgian Dream is not fighting it - rather, it is deeply involved in corruption from top to bottom. Corruption has become a way of life at every level of government, and the entire public administration system of Georgia is sustained by it.

The recent arrests have collectively shown that Georgian Dream has become a corrupt, rotten, and criminal political regime - one with a scale of corruption that independent Georgia has not even witnessed during Eduard Shevardnadze's era.

Let me remind you that, together with these 28 newly arrested individuals, hundreds of people have effectively been detained on corruption charges. Among them, former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili is currently in prison, after a huge amount of cash and gold bars were reportedly found at his home. Former State Security Service chief Grigol Liluashvili is also involved, allegedly having accepted a bribe from an ordinary Turkish businessman and having protected an entire system of fraudulent call centers in Georgia.

The question is: where did these fraudulent call centers go? No one has been arrested over them, and has someone in Georgian Dream taken over their protection? Former Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze is also imprisoned, accused of stealing money from food supplies for the Georgian army and looting the armed forces. He was allegedly involved in these corruption crimes together with his deputies, department heads, and, most importantly, family members.

Ivanishvili created a system where absolutely every institution steals people's money - whether it is the Ministry of Defense, the Security Service, the Infrastructure Service, or Tbilisi City Hall. This money is being stolen from you first and foremost - from kindergartens, beneficiaries of free meal programs, school students, Georgian soldiers, Georgian police officers, and every person who works and honestly pays taxes, which are then taken by Juansher Burchuladze and others like him.

The Prosecutor General's 2025 report presented alarming figures to parliament. In recent years, corruption-related crime in Georgia has been increasing. There have been 230 criminal cases launched in recent years; 125 individuals have been prosecuted, and 82 of them are public officials. These are catastrophic numbers. No one should be proud of this. We should declare a national emergency because the country is drowning in corruption.

Corruption is destroying Georgia, and everyone must understand that this system is destroying and consuming our entire social, economic, and political fabric.

The current ruling team is engaged in a clan conflict with the previous team, which is why we are seeing these arrests. Once again, I repeat: the call centers allegedly overseen by Liluashvili are nowhere to be seen, and there is no information about whether the protection of specific criminals and businesses has continued. This is simply a clan-based conflict.

The current ruling clan of Georgian Dream is fighting the previous clan, and this has nothing to do with a genuine fight against corruption. The only way for corruption to end in this country is to remove Ivanishvili's corrupt regime from governing the country," Datunashvili said.

For reference, during a briefing held today at the State Security Service, it was announced that, as a result of operational measures carried out in nine regions, 28 people had been detained and brought to criminal responsibility on charges including bribery, production and distribution of forged official documents, group commercial bribery, fraudulent appropriation of state funds and land plots, and abuse of official powers.