Today, on August 7, the Georgian society once again saw another hypocritical PR campaign of the [United] National Movement regarding the August War, reads the statement, released by the Political Council of Georgian Dream, regarding the anniversary of 2008 Georgia – Russia war.

“Today, on August 7, the Georgian society once again saw another hypocritical PR campaign of the [United] National Movement regarding the August War. Members of the war party visited the graves of the heroic soldiers, published condolence texts. They do all this as if they were not responsible for the tragedy that happened in 2008.

Until now, we have been talking about the crime committed by the UNM in 2008 only with hints, which had its own objective reason. As it is known, international court processes have been going on for years in Strasbourg and The Hague, which, with the greatest efforts of our Government, ended with the victory of Georgia. And now, when even the theoretical risk of Georgia, the Georgian army and even one Georgian soldier being held responsible at the international level has passed, the time has come for the society to learn the full truth and give a full legal assessment to all the facts.

The treasonous crime of the UNM had the worst consequences. As a result of the 2008 war, we lost two historic regions, hundreds of soldiers and civilians were killed, and 30,000 people were displaced. It is unacceptable for a crime of this scale to go unpunished without a legal assessment.

For years, the UNM named August 8 as the date of the beginning of war, and their protocol measures were also completed on this day. A few years ago, the radical opposition decided to change the date and declared August 7 as the start of the war. The only reason for this is that the UNM is trying to cover up its own crime and avoid responsibility. However, in the conditions when all the risks in the international courts have already passed, the artificial change of the date of the start of the war and similar manipulations will not give the representatives of the war party the opportunity to avoid answering the most difficult questions in public.

No amount of manipulation related to the date can cover the actions and statements of the former government representatives, which indicate the complete opposite. In particular, the 1st official statement of the then government of Georgia that Russian troops were not present in the area of hostilities on August 7, appears in Presidential Resolution 402. The document issued on August 9, 2008 states that Russian soldiers and Russian military equipment entered Georgia through the Roki Tunnel on August 8.

This document was soon followed by the UNM signing the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on October 2, 2008, which was one of the most treacherous steps in the history of Georgia. It was written in the resolution that the escalation turned into open and full-scale military actions by the shelling of Tskhinvali by the Georgian side on August 7. In the resolution, the mentioned act was assessed as a disproportionate use of armed forces by the Georgian side, which violated international humanitarian law and Georgia’s commitment to the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

In the same document, Russia’s military intervention was assessed as a “counterattack”. Thus, 2 months after the war, in the first official international document, the UNM signed the confirmation of its gravest crime, and with this step, it put the Georgian army, the Georgian military and the country at great risk before the international courts.

After admitting committing the heaviest crime at the international level and starting the war, the then government prepared a propaganda film and repeated the confession through the mouth of Zaza Gogava, a high-ranking military official, then Chief of General Staff. In particular, in the mentioned film, Gogava says that the first phase of the military operation had to be completed in 12 hours, because there was a risk that the “potential enemy” - Russia - might get involved in this conflict, and the Georgian army in the Tskhinvali region should meet Russia in readiness at the already occupied positions.

The UNM has committed many crimes against the country and people, but the biggest and most serious crime is the adventure committed in 2008. In order to ensure the irreversible development of our country and to establish long-term peace in Georgia, it is of the utmost importance that these events be given a proper legal assessment. We promise the public that it will definitely happen after the elections. We emphasize once again that since all risks in international courts have been removed, the events of August 2008 will definitely be given a legal assessment”, - reads the statement.