The man who interviewed me turned out to be, in fact, an advocate for Saakashvili and those scoundrels. If my teammates stand by me, of course, I will sue—this scoundrel, I don’t know if he truly represented The New York Times, I doubt it, he was sent.
David Razmadze, Chairman of the Gori Municipal Council, made this statement to clarify comments attributed to him in an interview with The New York Times.
According to Razmadze, he has never said anything positive about Russia.
“This is slander. I never said anything positive about Russia. At no point did I mention anything resembling ‘Saakashvili’s thugs.’ I stated that Saakashvili’s government abandoned the city. The scoundrel who interviewed me turned out to be, in fact, an advocate for Saakashvili and those scoundrels. If my teammates stand by me, of course, I will sue,” Razmadze stated to TV Pirveli.
In response to a question about whether EU integration is unacceptable to him, Razmadze noted: “I am a member of Georgian Dream. Has Georgian Dream ever stated that we are against European integration?! This scoundrel, I don’t know if he truly represented The New York Times, I doubt it, he was sent.”
Additionally, when asked for clarification on whether he blames Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, for starting the war, Razmadze stated that he accuses Saakashvili of “facilitating” it.
“How can I blame Saakashvili? The Russians started it. I accuse him of facilitating. Saakashvili contributed to the annexation of Georgian territories,” Razmadze stated.
For context, David Razmadze, Chairman of the Gori Municipal Council, stated in an interview with The New York Times: “The Russians came here as peacekeepers, and thank God they did, because Misha’s thugs were looting the entire city.” Razmadze’s interview is part of an extensive article by the American publication about Georgia, titled “How Georgia Fell From the Vanguard of Democracy to the Front Line of Autocracy.” The New York Times notes that in the interview, the Chairman of the Gori Municipal Council blamed the 2008 August Russian aggression on Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili.
Chairman of the Gori City Council: The man who conducted the interview turned out to be Saakashvili’s ‘lawyer;’ If my teammates stand by me, I will sue him; A scoundrel – I don’t know whether he really represented The New York Times; I doubt it, he must have been sent in
