The Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia has charged four individuals, including employees of the Interior and Defence Ministries, in connection with a violent incident at a restaurant in the western Georgian municipality of Tkibuli. According to some reports, the conflict was related to Russian music.
According to the investigation, the incident took place on 19 January. The Prosecutor General’s Office stated that employees of the Interior and Defence Ministries, together with two other individuals accompanying them, assaulted two officers of the Security Police and another person who was with them at the same restaurant.
The Security Police is a department within the Interior Ministry, meaning that some of those involved on opposing sides of the conflict were employees of the same ministry. According to local media, those on the other side represented the Criminal Police Department.
The official statement did not specify the reasons for the fight; however, the local outlet Info Imereti reported that the conflict began after Security Police officers requested to play a song by Russian pop singer Mikhail Shufutinsky at the restaurant.
‘Representatives of the Criminal Police admonished their colleagues seated at another table, which led to a confrontation’, the outlet wrote.
Staff at the restaurant told the publication that the argument later escalated into a physical fight in the courtyard.
The investigation is being conducted under charges of group violence; however, no public information has been released regarding the detention of those charged.
If convicted, they face up to two years in prison.
