​​​​​ISTANBUL

The ruling Georgian Dream party officially filed a complaint with the BBC for “false, unsubstantiated, and defamatory” allegations about the use of a chemical agent, the Georgian national broadcaster reported Thursday.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili demanded a public apology from the BBC and the removal of all materials related to allegations that a World War I–era chemical agent, camite, was used during protests in 2024.

The party demanded that the BBC apologize for claims suggesting an alignment of Georgian Dream’s interests with Russia, as well as allegations that the party’s chairman, Bidzina Ivanishvili, was involved in decisions to disperse violent gatherings.

A BBC article published in December claimed that authorities used camite to quell demonstrations in November 2024. But an official investigation found that the Interior Ministry never used, possessed or imported camite or any other banned substances.

“The absurdity of these claims, along with the nature and scale of the violations and dishonest actions involved, leads us to believe that this is a politically motivated campaign aimed at damaging the reputation of the Georgian government through a predetermined false narrative,” said Papuashvili.

He added that the BBC publications were intended “to shape public perception and a political narrative,” and the company violated the broadcaster’s editorial standards, the Broadcasting Code of the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom), and the fundamental principles of responsible journalism.

“The report advances a clearly one-sided narrative, portraying the Georgian government as the organizer of violence and labelling it as ‘pro-Russian’ and ‘acting in Russia’s interests,’” he said.

Papuashvili stressed that the complaint that was filed Wednesday, is fully grounded in the BBC’s editorial principles, the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

“If the BBC fails to rectify the violations on its own, the next step will be to appeal to the British communications regulator, Ofcom. Should the violations remain unaddressed at that stage, we will then exercise our right to apply to the courts of the United Kingdom,” he said. “We intend to use all available legal mechanisms to expose this vile campaign against Georgia, including, if necessary, the right to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.”

The BBC has not yet commented about the complaint.