I served our army and our motherland with all my heart. The political persecution and defamation ongoing against me is an insult to our country, to the government itself, and to the ruling party, – reads the letter from former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, published on his personal Facebook page.

According to Irakli Garibashvili, until 2020, "Georgian Dream" lost every election at closed military polling stations; however, during his time as Minister of Defense, in the 2020 parliamentary elections, "Georgian Dream" received 85–90% of the votes at closed military polling stations, which, according to him, speaks volumes.

"If anyone knows what I did for the army during my tenure as Minister of Defense and Prime Minister, it is, first and foremost, our army that knows.

To confirm this, I will recall another fact: until 2020, 'Georgian Dream' lost all elections at closed military polling stations. Only during my time as Minister of Defense, in the 2020 parliamentary elections, 'Georgian Dream' received 85–90% of the votes at closed military polling stations. I think even this fact alone speaks volumes about many things.

The adoption of the new Defense Code was important, as it regulated many problematic issues. I would particularly like to highlight one of the most anti-national and sacrilegious projects, the so-called 'Girchi project,' which led more than 10,000 young people astray and allowed them to evade military service...

We restricted and abolished this anti-state project. The Code also regulated the reform of compulsory military service, according to which recruitment for compulsory military service today is carried out solely within the defense establishment.

Specific modules were developed. After completing a six-month program, a young person will have received both theoretical and practical knowledge. As a result, the country will have psychologically and morally prepared, healthy patriots—reservists. The preliminary preparatory phase for this process was and is military camps for schoolchildren.

I speak of all this so that our population knows what the interests of our country and its defense mean to me personally.

Now, when I am accused of what I have never committed, I recall the words of a great writer:

'Defamators of all times knew well that the most brutal punishment of a person occurs when they are accused of the very thing they themselves fought against,'" reads Irakli Garibashvili's letter.