“I am innocent. The charges brought against me by the Prosecutor’s Office are completely fabricated. The prosecutor is trying to frighten me with prison, but I will go to prison and come out twice as brave! I have not committed any crime, Your Honor,” businessman Tamaz Elizbarashvili, who has been charged with making threats, said during the court hearing.

At the court hearing, Tamaz Elizbarashvili spoke about the confrontation that took place between him and seven people at a restaurant. According to him, they introduced themselves as employees of Imedi.

According to Elizbarashvili, the individuals demanded that he apologize, citing positions he had expressed publicly as the reason.

“Seven people came out of one of the restaurant’s private rooms. I asked them who they were. They said, ‘We are employees of Imedi.’ I replied, ‘But I don’t know any of you.’ They told me, ‘You often insult us, and you have to apologize.’...

My wife was waiting for me upstairs at the restaurant, and I was worried about the situation. When they did not let me leave and I was late, my wife also came downstairs. I did not want my wife to see them spitting at me and insulting me. I did not want her to hear this conversation. My wife went back upstairs and came down a few minutes later together with a restaurant security guard. Before they came down, I was telling one of the seven, ‘Take him outside.’ He swung at me, but did not hit me; he was insulting me. They were demanding an apology.

I told them, ‘I am a brave man, and I am not ashamed to apologize, but tell me what I should apologize to you for.’ They said, ‘We will not let you leave until you apologize. We do not like your civic position.’

Two restaurant security guards managed to get this aggressive man into the private room,” Elizbarashvili said.

As Elizbarashvili noted, following the conflict at the restaurant, he told those with whom he had clashed that he would take his wife home and then return. He said the reason for returning was reconciliation and resolving the conflict through conversation.

“I am not someone who looks for scandals, and would I go to fight with a young man who is the same age as my children? That is the absolute truth. I swear on my children that I have not added or omitted anything... If my going there frightened those seven men, I will publicly apologize. If I had gone there to fight, would I have gone alone?!

The Prosecutor’s Office says that seven people are filing a complaint against me, while they say, ‘We are not filing a complaint against you.’ I don’t know what to make of this?! I don’t know what is happening or what the Prosecutor’s Office has against me.

I am teaching my 11 children by example what it means to be a man and a decent human being. If the prosecutor is trying to frighten me with prison, I will go to prison and come out twice as brave. So, was putting my hand on my heart dangerous? I have not committed any crime, Your Honor. And if I frightened those seven people, I will publicly apologize,” Elizbarashvili said.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia charged Tamaz Elizbarashvili with making threats. According to the investigation, on August 30 of this year, a verbal confrontation took place between Elizbarashvili and a victim at a restaurant in Tbilisi over a comment posted on social media. According to the agency, Elizbarashvili threatened the victims with killing them and causing bodily harm. Later, allegedly intending to carry out the threats, he returned to the location armed and attempted to enter the restaurant.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, on August 31, the defendant also posted a video statement on social media in which he continued making threats.