Kavelashvili slams BBC for broadcasting completely unverified claims
“It is very unfortunate that such a well-known media outlet as the BBC allows itself to broadcast completely unverified information and harm our country,” Kavelashvili said.
He drew parallels with complaints made by US President Donald Trump regarding alleged “disinformation” about him. “I will draw a parallel — we saw a similar situation regarding (former Georgian President) Mikheil Saakashvili. The BBC, CNN and other outlets, through their lobbying companies, hired medical experts to create a media boom, as if the Georgian government was poisoning Saakashvili,” he added.
Kavelashvili noted that Konstantine Chakhunashvili, the pediatrician involved in the BBC investigation, now claims he “never discussed that substance” at all. The president called for a thorough investigation and questioned the coordination behind the media reports: “How is it that media outlets, NGOs and political parties speak in one voice, without waiting for facts, immediately attacking the state?”
Earlier on Tuesday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused the BBC of receiving deliberately “false” information intended to undermine national interests, labeling it potentially criminal. “The broadcaster was supplied with false information claiming that a certain substance had been used. This was a deliberately fabricated lie aimed squarely against our national interests,” he said.
Kobakhidze further described the BBC as a “fake television outlet” for relying on information from the Chakhunashvili family and a “treacherous” Special Task Force representative. He insisted that Georgian authorities had fully answered all questions prior to publication and clarified that the substance “Camite” cited in the report “was not used at all. That is simply a lie.”
The BBC article in question, published on Sunday, suggested that a “World War One–era chemical weapon” named Camite was deployed to suppress protests in November of last year.
In response, Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party announced on Monday that it intends to pursue legal action against the broadcaster in international courts, claiming the BBC ignored the majority of their responses before publication.
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