I’ve Been Threatened That My Children Will Be Killed: Georgian Interior Ministry Employee Talks About Resignation

Irakli Shaishmelashvili, a high-ranking employee who resigned and emigrated from the Interior Ministry, has declared that he received threats regarding the killing of his children. He shared this information during a broadcast on Pirveli TV.

Until December 3, he held the position of head of the Planning Division of the Interior Ministry's Special Affairs Department, overseen by Zviad Khazarishvili, who is considered a key organizer of violence during protests. Shaishmelashvili stepped down following the outbreak of mass protests and left Georgia with his family.

On the reasons for his resignation, he remarked: “I do not want to meet with friends and look them in the eye knowing that I am justifying what I believe is wrong.” He expressed his views on the protests, stating, “Today, high-responsibility actions are taking place in Georgia. When protests occur in Europe, cars are burned, everything is destroyed. Here, they dramatize the burning of a garbage can.”

“The beatings of protesters occur deliberately, and the authorities will not punish the guilty parties.” Shaishmelashvili also pointed out that some of the forces participating in the dispersal are not employees of the Interior Ministry.

He added that he has connections with Bidzina Ivanishvili and can receive orders directly from him. Following the threats after his resignation, according to Shaishmelashvili, he had a “physical confrontation” with Khazarishvili's deputy, during which he was threatened with the murder of his two children. He publicly announced his resignation specifically due to these threats.