"This is absurd and a lie. Those who know me know that I respect not only the family of my acquaintances but also the family of my enemies. I have never done something like that to anyone that I would threaten to cut off someone's family. This is a complete absurdity", said the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Vakhtang Gomelauri, regarding the accusations of his former deputy, the imprisoned Soso Gogashvili.
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Gogashvili released a statement a few days ago, saying that the Minister of Internal Affairs called him several times in prison, demanded that he and his family keep quiet and threatened him. According to Gogashvili himself, his family members met him in the jail to convey to them the threats he received from Gomelauri and Ivanishvili. However, according to the resolution adopted during the investigation, Gogashvili is prohibited from meeting with other persons except for lawyers.
"It is unfortunate and breaks my heart. I met Soso Gogashvili in 2013 and took him personally. He was in an ordinary position in the General Inspection; I was the deputy [minister], and Irakli Gharibashvili was the Minister of Internal Affairs. I asked him and brought him to my curatorship and promoted him. Finally, he became my first deputy and was my deputy for almost three years. He was close to my family, we became so close to them, and now what he claims, it turns out that for three years, he has been collecting incriminating information about our team and me. It turns out that Gomelauri should be in prison, etc.
He was dismissed from his position in 2018 and knows best why it happened. I will not say so. He has repeatedly protected me from the team. I am the most surprised and don't blame anyone for anything. I did everything possible; he had nothing and became the first deputy.
I don't wish anything bad for his family. However, we see what happened and where his behaviour led to, and I feel sorry for him," said Vakhtang Gomelauri.
Minister of Internal Affairs also responded to Soso Gogashvili's statement regarding the special operation conducted in the Pankisi valley. The letter circulated on Gogashvili's behalf states that Vakhtang Gomelauri secretly met the mother of 19-year-old Temirlan Machalikashvili, who was fatally wounded during the special operation, Medico Margoshvili, after which a person was sent to the Machalikashvili family, who assured the parents of the deceased that during the special operation, the special forces were under Soso Gogashvili.
"Soso Gogashvili was not in Pankisi. The special forces were subordinate to me personally, and no one could give them orders. The order to kill anyone... In this case, Machalikashvili was killed. It is unfortunate, and once again, my condolences to the family. It was hard, first of all, of course, for the family and us. But, of course, such an order was not issued, and I further confirmed that I was the head of the special forces squad. "It was mine, but it had its commander, of course," said Gomelauri.
Ioseb Gogashvili, who held the position of the first deputy head of the State Security Service of Georgia from 2015-2018, was arrested on July 16, 2022. The prosecutor's office accuses Gogashvili of obtaining and disclosing personal data of specific citizens using his official positions and contacts in the past, thus contributing to the public distribution of the said information. Accordingly, he has been remanded in custody.
Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze confirmed to the media that Gogashvili's family met in prison. According to the minister, Gogashvili was allowed to meet with his family for encouragement.
"The case materials are secret, and I can only tell you that his meeting with family members was conducted in full compliance with the law. This was done at his request. I will also say here that, by the way, Mr Gogashvili expressed great gratitude to the employees of the penitentiary service; his behaviour was also very positive and, accordingly, it was in the form of a certain incentive measure. I don't know what he's talking about. He always thanked the staff, including the doctors, for their good attitude towards him and the meeting at his request. Among them, his behaviour was very positive, and this meeting was used as an encouragement measure. Absolutely all actions in the penitentiary institution are based on the law, and no illegal action can be carried out there," said the Minister of Justice.
