Georgian State Security Service says “organisers of criminal acts” amid protest rallies plan to prevent presidential election from taking place, consider escalating situation resulting in victims

Georgian State Security Service on Tuesday said the organisers of criminal acts amid ongoing protest rallies in the capital city of Tbilisi were planning to prevent the Georgian presidential election process scheduled for Saturday from taking place, which “will artificially cause a government crisis”.

In a statement, the Service noted that “to this end, it is considered to escalate the situation as much as possible, especially on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week, as well as partially on Friday, which should result in two or three civilian deaths”.

“Once the protest momentum of the ongoing rallies outside the Parliament subsided, a certain group of local actors implementing a criminal plan has become active, aiming to artificially increase the protest momentum among citizens, which, in their opinion, should be used to violently overthrow the Government”, the statement said.

“A clear proof of this is the frequent violent acts committed by carefully disguised individuals against law enforcement officers and civilians, both at protest rally locations and beyond. Of particular note is the attack on journalists from one of the TV stations, which we consider to be one of the alleged episodes of the said criminal plan, which fortunately ended without casualties”, the Service noted.

“​​According to the information received, the organisers of the said destructive and criminal actions plan to prevent the [Saturday’s] Georgian Presidential election process from taking place and to prevent the election of the Georgian President in every way, which will artificially cause a government crisis. For that reason, the organisers of the criminal actions are considering escalating the situation as much as possible, especially on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week, as well as partially on Friday, which should result in the death of two or three people. With the said sacrifices, they will try to increase the protest momentum, encourage radical sentiments, which, according to their intention, should develop into uncontrolled processes and be blamed on the Government in a disguised way”, the statement continued.

The State Security Service urged Georgian citizens “to exercise maximum caution so as not to become a participant or victim of a criminal plan, whether intentionally or unintentionally”.

“In addition, within the framework of protecting personal safety, they should try to record any suspicious situation or attempted provocation using various technical things at their disposal and immediately contact the relevant law enforcement agencies”, the Service concluded.