The Brutality of Nine Years Ago and Beating Detainees with Batons is My Guilt, Says Former Prime Minister of Georgia

Former Prime Minister of Georgia, Vano Merabishvili, during an interview on the program "Main Highlights," discussed the brutal dispersal of a rally on May 26, 2011, and stated that the brutality exercised by special forces and the beating of detainees with batons is his fault. This was reported by "Georgia Online."

Merabishvili noted that the special forces were not well-trained and were unable to maintain control. "I could not train the special forces in a way that they could control themselves in crisis situations. It is not their fault; it is mine. I do not make excuses for myself. Those special forces had been serving in Tskhinvali positions a few weeks before and had become victims of attacks every three to four months. We did not have enough resources to have separate special forces that could operate independently during protests," said Merabishvili.

It is noteworthy that on the night of May 26, 2011, the special forces brutally dispersed a protest led by Nino Burjanadze (Burjanadze herself fled just minutes before the rally was broken up).