Special Investigation Service to look into attack on journalist, not Interior Ministry

The Special Investigative Service, a state agency probing abuse of power at institutions, on Thursday announced it would investigate an assault on Misha Mshvildadze, a co-founder and presenter in the domestic opposition-minded Formula channel in June. 

The channel on Wednesday claimed an employee of the State Security Service, Giorgi Mumladze, had been engaged in an assault on Mshvildadze.  

It said Mumladze had been shown on the footage from the spot where Mshvildadze was beaten for “insulting the Patriarch and the church” on June 27, claiming it was part of a “systemic crime” backed by the authorities to “threaten opponents”.  

“We would also like to specially appeal to diplomatic missions and ambassadors accredited in Georgia, it was a very sad story that we highlighted, a huge systematic crime, in which representatives of the State Security Service are directly involved,” the channel representatives said, adding they did not trust in the domestic investigation of the case that opened the same day of the attack.  A Facebook user under the name Nikoloz Gugeshashvili on June 28 posted he had attacked Mshvildadze, tagged the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and claimed he had chosen Mshvildadze as a target because of his public statements, views and attitudes.