Mayor of Tbilisi described a statement by former president Mikheil Saakashvili regarding the case of Sergeant Roin Shavadze as a direct admission of murder, calling on the relevant investigative authorities to examine the matter.

Kakha Kaladze made the comment in response to journalists’ questions about Saakashvili`s statement on the case, which has been circulating on social media.

"This is a direct admission of what the bloody regime under Saakashvili’s leadership represented. We have heard a great deal and witnessed many things. There was also much that we did not see, and it could have been extremely disturbing for society. However, the majority of the country`s population knows very well what that bloody regime and Saakashvili`s government were like. I do not know how anyone could treat their own people and country the way the National Movement did, using every kind of dirty method.

"It was a very difficult reality [during the former government] to live through, marked by unjust treatment, robbery, business racketeering, murders, and people being abducted and then disappearing. The majority of the population made its choice in 2012 and supported Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia. The statement we have heard once again confirms what that bloody regime represented", - said the Mayor.

He reiterated that Mikheil Saakashvili’s remarks should be treated as a direct admission related to a murder and warrant further investigation.

"They are killers; they were killers and remain killers. We have heard many accounts in connection with specific cases about how detained people were treated. What we heard was a direct admission related to a murder. This is all extremely serious, and I believe the investigative authorities should examine the matter once again", - said Kakha Kaladze.