“Aleko Elisashvili’s action today is unacceptable and unjustifiable for us,” reads the statement released by “Strong Georgia – Lelo.”
“Aleko Elisashvili has repeatedly been a victim of injustice and violence by the regime, and his acknowledgment of this act is proof that it was a desperate, self-sacrificing action by an individual against the regime.
We must not allow the regime, through systemic violence and injustice, to push us into despair and force us to abandon peaceful and lawful means of resisting tyranny which has always been, and will remain, the fundamental principle of ‘Strong Georgia – Lelo’,” the party states.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one of the leaders of the “Strong Georgia – Lelo” coalition, Aleksandre Elisashvili, has been detained after attempting to start a fire early this morning in the registry office building of the Tbilisi City Court. According to Elisashvili’s lawyer, the detained politician acknowledges the act and says he carried it out as a form of protest. Salome Zurabishvili has also distanced herself from Elisashvili’s action.