Georgia slams BBC report on using chemical weapons to quell protest as 'orchestrated' by foreign intelligence

ISTANBUL

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze claimed on Wednesday that foreign intelligence services "orchestrated" the BBC investigative report, which claimed that the government used chemical weapons to quell a protest in November of last year, the Georgian Public Broadcaster reported on Wednesday.

Kobakhidze alleged that the British broadcaster's "false" and "cheap provocation" report has two purposes.

"First, to give our country's ill-wishers a pretext to artificially revive the fading protest momentum, and second, our country's ill-wishers want to create a pretext for continuing blackmail against the Georgian people and the government they have elected," according to Kobakhidze, who has promised that these goals will not be accomplished.

He claimed that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ministerial will attempt to cite the BBC's "false information" at the next European Commission meeting.

“Specific politicians, including MEPs (members of the European Parliament), are already preparing the ground for this with their usual false statements. This campaign reminds us of the campaign built on lies, widely deployed in the international media by the European bureaucracy, about Mikheil Saakashvili’s poisoning,” he said.

A BBC article published on Sunday suggested that Georgian authorities used a “World War One–era chemical weapon” known as Camite to quell the demonstrations last November.

In response, Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party announced Monday that it will take legal action against the BBC in international courts over these allegations.

The party said its communications team remained in contact with the journalist before publication but claimed the BBC did not publish “even 1%” of the responses provided.

Kobakhidze underlined that the Georgian Internal Affairs Ministry “has never” used the Camite, even during the United National Movement’s rule, and acquired this substance.

Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili slammed the BBC for publishing “completely unverified” allegations that “harm” Georgian national interests.

“Let’s wait for the investigation. We are a responsible government. I call on law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate,” he said, underlining that it is worth asking who is “behind these coordinated actions.”