Kobakhidze Claims 5th "Revolution Attempt" Foiled in Georgia

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has announced that the fifth attempt at a revolution in the last four years has been prevented in the country. According to him, this attempt also received support from outside. The Prime Minister assured that all individuals involved in the storming of the presidential palace will be held accountable, and a special operation is underway to identify them.

"In these four years, we have witnessed the fifth attempt to organize a revolution in our country, which in this case also received support from outside. Despite this, the state was again at its best, and this attempt was also prevented. But the main thing is that we cannot wait for the sixth, seventh, eighth attempts," Kobakhidze stated. He also accused a "youth extremist group" and "foreign special services" of organizing a coup d'état.

According to the Prime Minister, former Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili "was ready to enter the presidential residence, but then left." In response, Zourabichvili denied this claim on her X microblog, calling it a "farce." "As the legitimate president, I officially reject this and continue to stand peacefully by my people until we win new elections," she wrote.

Charges have been brought against five members of the organizing committee of the October 4 protest. Among them are a member of the political council of former President Mikheil Saakashvili's "United National Movement" party, former chief prosecutor Murtaz Zodelava, the founder of the "Rustaveli Avenue" public movement, opera singer Paata Burchuladze, the general secretary of the "Strategy Aghmashenebeli" party, Paata Manjgaladze, and others.

They have been charged under three articles at once: attempting to seize or block strategic objects, organizing group violence, and calling for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order. They face up to nine years in prison on these charges.

According to the prosecutor's office, on October 4, the day of the local self-government elections, Burchuladze presented a plan to detain government officials and apply illegal measures against them, while Zodelava called on protesters to go to the presidential residence and "seize it by force." The organizers of the rally had declared that the current government was not legitimate and had demanded a "peaceful transfer of power." Some of the protesters had tried to break into the presidential residence, but special forces, using tear gas and water cannons, pushed them back.