Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze criticized the European media, calling the situation of the British broadcaster BBC in particular tragic.
„When a broadcaster, once with a good reputation, tells lies, it says it all. The state of the media in Europe is very tragic, and the tragic situation at the BBC is yet another proof of this“, Kobakhidze told Georgian journalists.
On December 1, the BBC published a report alleging that the Georgian authorities used chemical weapons from the First World War against protesters in 2024. The BBC claims that the substance used was Kamite, which French soldiers used against the Germans. Georgian authorities accused the corporation of spreading false information and announced that they would file cases against it in international courts. Earlier, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze called the BBC report a cheap provocation aimed at blackmailing the authorities.
Later, the Georgian State Security Service announced that it had investigated the case and identified the chemicals used by Interior Ministry officers to disperse rallies in late 2024. According to the UDF, these substances are not prohibited and do not match those mentioned in the BBC report. According to the investigation, the police used chlorobenzylidine malononitrile, dissolved in a water cannon with the help of propylene glycol, to disperse protests in early December last year. The UDF claims that none of the listed substances are prohibited.