“A representative of a specific opposition party deliberately misled the public. We are dealing with an attempt to create the impression among the public that the situation in the country is out of control and that people’s safety is not protected,” Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Darakhvelidze said, responding to a statement by Vika Pilpani, a For Georgia MP, regarding crime statistics.

According to him, the figures cited by Vika Pilpani concerning cases of intentional homicide and stabbing were manipulative.

Darakhvelidze says that “we are dealing with a simple lie” and that “these lies can easily be verified.”

“From the parliamentary rostrum, the public heard information claiming that 532 cases of intentional homicide were recorded in the country in the first quarter of 2026. This is an outright lie, and anyone can easily verify it on the ministry’s official website, where crime statistics are published quarterly. A total of 15 cases of intentional homicide were recorded, and all 15 have been solved.

Information was also disseminated manipulatively, claiming that there were 1,804 cases of intentional grievous bodily harm. These are approximately what are referred to as stabbing incidents, and this too is an outright lie. Of those 1,804 cases, around 90% are cases in which investigations were initiated in connection with violence and domestic violence. So here too, it is simply a lie. In total, there were 85 stabbing incidents. Nearly 90% of such crimes have been solved,” Darakhvelidze said.

For the record, Vika Pilpani, an MP from the For Georgia party, said during a speech at a parliamentary plenary session that 14,716 crimes were registered in the first quarter of 2026, of which 532 were cases of intentional homicide and 1,804 were cases of intentional bodily harm.

“In a country of three million people, 532 murders in six months is an alarming figure,” Pilpani said.