Police Arrest Ultra-nationalist Movement Leader
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, September 3
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has arrested Giorgi Chelidze, the leader of the fascist, far-right movement Georgian National Unity for illegal possession of firearms.
According to the Ministry, Giorgi Chelidze was detained based on the Article 236 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which implies illegal purchase and keeping of arms. This article envisages from 2 to 5 years of imprisonment.
MIA reports that during the searches of the detained man’s apartment, police seized different types of weapons and 28 cartridges.
Georgian National Unity wrote about the ongoing search in Giorgi Chelidze's home on the Facebook page but said that "Chelidze does not have any pistol or gun in the house, on which does not have the right to use 5 kilometers away from the city."
The MIA launched the investigation after the movement published a video in the forest on August 27, where some of the radical group members are shooting from different firearms.
The name of the video is “Fascist Weekend,” and it says the movement members regularly do such exercises in the countryside every week.
This is not the first case MIA launched the investigation against the Georgian National Unity group. In April 2018 the group also released a similar video, which depicted three guns but the investigation revealed the firearms were pneumatic, and the investigation was suspended after that.
Besides, earlier in May 2018, the Georgian Interior Ministry launched an investigation into calls for violence by the Georgian National Unity. The police decision followed earlier remarks of GiorgiChelidze, voiced at one of the counter-demonstrations against the group of activists protesting the police raids on Tbilisi’s top music clubs.
Georgian National Unity was founded in November 2016, and only people above 18 are allowed to join them.
The neo-Nazi movement has its commander and leaders too who give instructions to the others.
The movement obliges its members to be educated and critically-thinking but should not hesitate to obey the orders and instructions of the commander and leaders.
