Former Defense Forces Commander Questioned Over Outpost: "I Didn't Know What Was Happening Regarding Chorchana"

As he told journalists, he "didn't know what was happening regarding Chorchana."

"To be objective and not lie to you, I didn't know what was happening regarding Chorchana. I found out about it the next day when I went to work at 9 AM. That's when they informed me that something was happening in Chorchana. We received information about the erection of Georgian outposts, and that was all. I don't know exactly when this process started - if it was night, evening... When I arrived in the morning, my colleagues had already prepared the information for me," Chachibaia stated after leaving the Prosecutor's Office.

According to him, they became interested in the issue and implemented "appropriate measures" within the Defense Forces, and after the outpost was erected, they provided support to the Ministry of Internal Affairs:

"These were not, of course, combat readiness orders, but to be prepared for any eventuality, we held a meeting to ensure maximum attention in the units in case of any incident, and to be ready to react if ordered by the head of government and the Minister of Defense.

When the outposts were erected, I don't know in what form it was, whether sandbags were laid out or individuals were already standing at the outpost, but the issue was that for one outpost to connect with another, a material-technical base was needed. Accordingly, we provided this support to the Ministry of Internal Affairs at that time and supplied them with the means that the Ministry of Defense possessed. This implies, for example, material resources that help bring a road to the object."

When asked how correct the construction of the outpost was, Vladimer Chachibaia stated that he did not know because he had no information about it.

"I cannot answer what stood behind all of this. There is a relevant commission investigating this issue," Chachibaia said, confirming that he trusts the investigative commission created in the Parliament by Georgian Dream.

The journalist asked him if he thought there was a problem with establishing an outpost in the Georgian government-controlled territory.

"We must carefully approach an issue that could lead to the escalation of conflict. The information I have is that territories were lost. Beyond that, I don't know what's happening," Vladimer Chachibaia stated.

Georgian Dream leaders accuse the former Minister of Internal Affairs and Prime Minister, Giorgi Gakharia, of arbitrarily opening a police outpost in the village of Chorchana and creating a threat of a new war.

The so-called temporary parliamentary investigative commission, chaired by Tea Tsulukiani, questioned Gakharia twice on this matter. According to commission members, as a result of the outpost's opening, the occupation forces seized one million square meters of territory.

As Gakharia stated, the plan to open the outpost was agreed upon with all relevant agencies, and the EU Monitoring Mission was also aware of it. According to him, the purpose of opening the outpost was to restore patrolling in the mentioned territory.

Parallel to the work of the so-called investigative commission, the General Prosecutor's Office is conducting an investigation into sabotage, "attempted sabotage under aggravating circumstances, assistance to a foreign organization and an organization controlled by a foreign power in hostile activities, and mobilization of finances for activities directed against Georgia's constitutional order and national security foundations."

Within the framework of this investigation, Giorgi Gakharia and other former and current officials of the Georgian Dream government were questioned regarding the Chorchana outpost. As Maia Tskitishvili, the former Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development, said, she "was aware that an outpost was to be placed."