Georgia’s sanctioned riot police chief reportedly injured

A representative from Tbilisi’s Aversi Hospital told TV Pirveli that Zviad (Khareba) Kharazishvili, the Director of the Special Tasks Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sanctioned by the US and the UK for his role in violent crackdowns on peaceful protesters, has ‘sustained severe shoulder injuries’.

The head of the clinic’s radiology department, Irakli Gakhokidze, told RFE/RL that Kharazishvili had no visible injuries.

‘He was complaining of pain in his shoulder joint. He sustained an injury during a workout. A tomography scan was performed, the results are being processed. The patient left the clinic immediately after the examination’, Gakhokidze said.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has yet to comment on his health condition.

Public interest in the case has been amplified in the context of potential internal disputes within the power vertical under the Georgian Dream party in the country, specifically, by Kharazishvili’s alleged ongoing conflict with Giorgi Shinjikashvili, the Deputy Governor of the Kvemo Kartli region, as well as recent reports of Georgian Dream Chair Irakli Gharibashvili’s shoulder injury. The latter sparked allegations of an assault amidst rumours of his plans to leave the ruling party — claims he later strongly denied while attributing the injury to an accident at the gym.

Additionally, Irakli Shaishmelashvili, a former official under Kharazishvili who resigned in early December and subsequently fled the country, recently confirmed in a pre-recorded interview with Pirveli that he was physically attacked by Mirza Kezevadze, Kharazishvili’s deputy, who has been sanctioned by multiple entities, including the US and the UK.