Khatuna Samnidze, the Chairperson of the Republican Party got summoned for questioning to the State Security Service of Georgia.
Samnidze wrote on the social network that the State Security Service contacted her regarding her status on Facebook about the coronavirus.
"The State Security Service contacted me to ask about the post on Facebook about COVID-19. I said that it was none of their business, to which they demanded an answer," Samnidze writes.
The politician is summoned as a witness in the agency.
As explained to report.ge by the State Security Service, this is about the so-called case of sabotage. The agency started the investigation after the story aired on Mtvarai Channel. Earlier, the State Security Service summoned the respondents of the story for questioning in the framework of the ongoing investigation.
Due to the footage aired on the Mtavari Channel, the State Security Service launched an investigation under the article of sabotage.
Mtavari Channel prepared a story a few days ago, where respondents said that their family members died of another disease, but it was suggested that if they agreed to record COVID-19 as the cause of death, they would receive money in return. The respondents who provided the mentioned information to the Channel were summoned for questioning.
The respondents stated that their interviews had been installed and incorrectly translated from the Azerbaijani language.
After the report aired, Khatuna Samnidze wrote on the social network that she had heard about similar facts, which was probably the reason for the agency to summon her.
According to the State Security Service, persons involved in the report were summoned for questioning as part of the investigation launched under the article of sabotage in March 2020.
On March 16, a group of individuals, on behalf of the "government" and "healthcare", sent false messages to a number of Georgian citizens about the scale of the spread of the virus, about its negative consequences, and the allegedly excessive measures taken by the government. The investigation launched under the article of sabotage (Article 318, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Georgia). The offense carries a maximum sentence of 2 to 4 years in prison.
Asked what the two stories have to do with each other, the State Security Service said that the investigation was "considering the information provided by the Mtavari Channel in the same light."
