A person who persecuted Zviad Gamsakhurdia in Samegrelo was employed at the "Georgian Dream" election headquarters. Gia Mkheidze was specially brought to Zugdidi from Tbilisi - it was discussed at the special briefing at the "National Movement" Zugdidi election headquarters.
Mkheidze was named in the Parliamentary temporary investigative commission report as a man who carried out the persecution of the first president.
According to the opposition, Mkheidze supervised the incidents during the 2016 parliamentary elections in Jikshakari, where several polling stations were attacked where the opposition candidate was winning.
Gia Mkheidze occupied the position of Deputy Interior Minister of Abkhazia during Shevardnadze"s government.
"This is a person who, on the one hand, directly participated in 1993-1994 in the process of persecution and liquidation of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia. This operation ended with the death of the first president. Also, this person was Shevardnadze"s deputy interior minister. Gia Mkheidze is also known for the crackdown of election precincts in Jikashkari in 2016, for which he was convicted and then released by the authorities with conditional sentence. Gia Mkheidze"s arrival in Zugdidi, especially in the background of the tense situation that was created before the election, indicates that the government is determined to use violence on the polling stations, "Nugzar Tsiklauri said.