“It is absolutely clear that we have a Russian government in Georgia, and Russians feel like hosts while Georgians feel like rightless guests,” Nugzar Tsiklauri, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, said regarding the incident at a hotel in Telavi.

Speaking on PalitraNews’ program “360 Degrees,” Tsiklauri said that Georgian Dream expresses completely incomprehensible reverence toward Russia.

According to him, the incident is a reflection of the political situation in the country.

“Yes, Georgia has a Christian and ethical tradition of respecting guests. False propagandists talk a lot about how a Georgian man hit a woman, which was indeed difficult to watch. But when Georgian women were being beaten, when female journalists were being beaten, no one remembered that. We should look at this event more broadly than as just one incident. The court will make its decision, and we will have an understanding of how fair that decision is. But what we can say right now is that it is absolutely clear that we have a Russian government in Georgia, and Russians feel like hosts while Georgians feel like rightless guests. This is the entire problem created by Georgian Dream’s rule. We [Georgians] are not the masters of our own country, our choice does not matter, while our government, which is a usurper, expresses completely incomprehensible reverence toward Russia,” Tsiklauri said.

According to him, similar incidents happen every day. Tsiklauri said that some Russian citizens do not show proper respect for the local population, Georgia’s laws, or linguistic issues.

“In reality, dozens of such incidents happen every day. They do not feel that they are coming to a country occupied by their own state; they do not show respect. This is nothing new—it has always been this way. The situation has now developed in such a way that there is no need to respect the local population, the law, or linguistic issues. They feel that the government known as Ivanishvili’s government belongs more to them than to Georgians.

We have seen statements by government representatives asking how it is possible to raise a hand against a woman. The same people justified attacks on female journalists. What, are Georgian women not women? Or is someone simply an easy target here, meaning that anything can be done to Georgian women? All of this has shown that our government is not our protector. This is the dramatic result of everything that has happened,” Tsiklauri said.