Irakli Shaishmelashvili, the former head of the Operational Planning Division of the Special Tasks Department (SDD) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, does not rule out the possibility that the orders to disperse the rallies were issued by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Honorary Chairman of the Georgian Dream, himself.
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“He may have given orders directly,” Shaishmelashvili said in an interview with TV company Pirveli before leaving Georgia. He mentioned that he was aware of the close ties between Ivanishvili and Zviad Kharazishvili, the director of the Georgian State Security Service, aka Khareba, even before this.
“If this interview had aired and I had stayed here, they might have seized a kilogram and a half of cocaine from my house the next day,” Irakli Shaishmelashvili stated in an interview that will be broadcast in full on Saturday, December 28.
Shaishmelashvili submitted his resignation to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, on December 3, citing “family circumstances.”
“The fact that children the same age as our own are being mercilessly beaten on the street, and I am a participant in all of this, I can no longer bear it physically, emotionally, or morally. [...] This beating is deliberate. What we are witnessing is not a misdemeanor; these are crimes. A police officer will not move without an order,” Shaishmelashvili said.
He confirmed that after resigning, he received threats involving the murder of his family members, especially his children.
“I believed I had to protect the safety of others. For the first time in my life, I realized I have my own children to protect. [...] I know what they are capable of and what they can do,” the former senior police officer told TV Pirveli.
Irakli Shaishmelashvili left for the United States with his wife and two minor children.
Before leaving the country, he posted a photo of himself with his family at the airport on Facebook on December 26, thanking President Salome Zourabichvili, the US Embassy, and businessman Giorgi Chikviladze.
According to Chikviladze, the threats against Shaishmelashvili began the day he submitted his resignation letter. “There were talks about violating the safety of his minor children, and there was an attempt to open a case against him. Today, Irakli is safe in the US,” the businessman told TV company Formula.
Protests in Tbilisi, attended by thousands, began on November 28 after the illegitimate Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, stated at a briefing that the Georgian Dream party would not put the issue of opening negotiations for EU accession on the agenda until the end of 2028.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs repeatedly dispersed peaceful protests using water cannons, tear gas, and other special means. Special forces members and masked individuals severely beat hundreds of citizens and physically assaulted journalists. More than 400 people were arrested during the protests, with over 30 charged and facing long prison sentences.
