Leader of Georgia’s largest opposition party claims husband was abducted and forced to record video apology to billionaire’s son

TBILISI, DFWatch–It caused an outcry in Georgia that leader of United National Movement (UNM), Tina Bokuchava, accused unidentified men of abducting her husband and forcing him to record a video apology.

Bokuchava claimed that her husband, Kote Ioseliani, was coerced into apologizing, on camera, for things he said seven years ago about Uta Ivanishvili, son of billionaire and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The abduction was allegedly carried out by five masked men, who seized Ioseliani outside the couple’s home in Tbilisi’s uptown Vake district, blindfolded him and brought him to some kind of facility where he was held for eight hours. According to Bokuchava, the attackers also threatened the couple’s children as a means of forcing the apology our of her husband. She suspects that the real goal of the exercise was to intimidate her.

Government representatives strongly rejected the accusations. First Vice Speaker Gia Volski called the story a “malicious fairy tale” intended to discredit Georgia’s security services. Ruling party MP Guram Macharashvili called Bokuchava’s claims unbelievable.

But among the opposition, many expressed support for Bokuchava in connection with the case. Nika Gvaramia, leader of the “Coalition for Change”, praised her courage and described the alleged incident as typical of the increasing pressure on the opposition in Georgia. He warned of increasing authoritarian tendencies, drawing parallels to Chechnya.

Georgian authorities have not launched an investigation into the case, but some officials have called for questioning of Ioseliani. Human rights groups and foreign diplomats have not yet expressed viewpoints on the case.