The Georgian government plans to appeal to the British Communications Regulatory Commission regarding the journalistic investigation published by BBC.
As Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze noted at a briefing in the Government Administration, “if necessary, international legal action may also be pursued.”
“Once again, we want to respond to the false information spread by BBC. To dramatize the issue, BBC disseminated false information claiming that during the dispersal of a protest, the Ministry of Internal Affairs used the banned World War I-era substance ‘Camite.’ The Georgian Interior Minister has already publicly confirmed that during the dispersal, the substance ‘Camite’ was not used and, in fact, the Ministry has never acquired it, including during the ‘United National Movement’ government.As you know, based on the information circulated by BBC, the State Security Service (SSS) has launched an investigation, and full details will be provided to the public as soon as possible.
Clearly, the BBC report is not only false but also a low-cost provocation orchestrated with the hand of foreign intelligence services, serving two objectives: 1) to artificially rekindle a protest wave that has long since subsided, and 2) to create leverage for our country’s adversaries against the Georgian people and the government they elected. This report cannot serve either purpose in any way.The OSCE ministerial meeting and another European Commission gathering are approaching, where informal actors may attempt to cite BBC’s false information in official documents. Certain politicians, including Members of the European Parliament, are already preparing the ground with their usual false statements. This campaign reminds us of the European bureaucracy’s international media campaign regarding Mikheil Saakashvili’s alleged poisoning.As you know, during that campaign, even the Georgian Minister of Justice was formally approached by 27 EU ambassadors. Today it is widely known that the campaign, like the BBC story, was based on falsehoods. Yet, despite the revelation of these lies, neither European bureaucrats nor the relevant media have been held accountable.
For us, it is fundamentally important that the false information spread by BBC does not go unanswered. Therefore, as already announced, alongside the ongoing investigation, we plan to address both the British Communications Regulatory Commission and, if necessary, international legal authorities, so that BBC properly accounts for the dissemination of false information orchestrated by intelligence services.”
