On May 13, businessman Fady Asly and a member of the Imereti regional council of the United National Movement, Irakli Gvalia, as well as TV company Akhali disseminated a quote by former Health Minister and Member of Parliament Davit Sergeenko in the social network that he “is ashamed that he was with them in the past.” Given that Sergeenko is a former MP from the Georgian Dream, the quote creates the impression that he is talking about the ruling party.
The circulating quote is faked. Davit Sergeenko has not publicly stated that he is ashamed of being with the Georgian Dream in the past. No credible outlets have reported this. Davit Sergeenko himself denies the authenticity of the quote.
A search for Davit Sergeenko’s quote in open sources showed that it was faked, and the former minister has never said anything like this in public. Sergeenko has not posted such a quote either on his Facebook page or his private account.
The Myth Detector contacted Davit Sergeenko for further comment. He denied the authenticity of the quote and confirmed that he “had not said or written anything like that.”
Davit Sergeenko left his mandate as deputy last year. When the parliament was considering the so-called law on agents in 2023, Sergeenko did not vote in favor of it.
In parallel with the ongoing protests against the reintroduction and consideration of the law on agents, misleading information is being spread on the social network. The Myth Detector has regularly checked for fake claims, including fake quotes disseminated for various purposes:
- ZURAB CHIABERASHVILI’S COMMENT ON PROTESTS AGAINST SO-CALLED LAW ON AGENTS IS SPREAD OUT OF CONTEXT BY POSTV
- A FAKE POST IS FALSELY DISSEMINATED ON BEHALF OF THE MTAVARI TV CHANNEL
- IMEDI TV AND FOR.GE SPREAD DISINFORMATION BASED ON A SECRET AUDIO RECORDING
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