On February 23rd, 2022, the Facebook page “Dzala Simartleshia”[The Power Lies within the Truth] published a screenshot of an alleged statement was published on the official Facebook page of the Central Election Commission of Georgia. In the statement, the CEC administration welcomed the letter sent to Vladimir Putin by the pro-Kremlin “Alt-Info,” stating that there should be no conflict between Georgia and Russia. The statement expressed hope that the President of the Russian Federation would respond appropriately to the letter and reiterated his support for the Alt-Info initiative. The post of “Dzala Simartleshia” also stated that the CEC allegedly deleted the mentioned post afterwards.
The post of “Dzala Simartleshia” contains disinformation and fabricated statements. No statement with similar content can be found on the CEC official website. In the conversation with “Myth Detector,” the CEC representative also denied the publication of a statement in support of the Alt-Info letter. Notably, the letter addressed to the President of Russia was recently issued by the “Alliance of Patriots of Georgia,” while Alt-Info does not represent one of the signors.
The post by “Dzala Simartleshia” was published on February 23rd, 2022. According to the screenshot, the CEC issued a statement in support of the Alt-Info letter the day before, on February 22nd. However, only the following posts were published on the official Facebook page of the Central Election Commission on February 22nd:
As one can see, among them is no information about the support of Alt-Info’s letter to Putin.
Notably, a post with a similar visual statement was published on the CEC website on February 8th, displaying the results of the by-elections:
The post of “Dzala Simartleshia” claimed that the statement was probably deleted from the CEC page. Myth Detector contacted the Central Election Commission to verify the information. The head of the CEC Public Relations Department said that a similar statement had never been posted on the CEC Facebook page and website.
“We do not support anyone in anything. We are a public agency that organizes general elections. You can see our whole Facebook page, what and how we have, and you will not find anything similar there, “- said Ketevan Janelidze.
Notably, the pro-Kremlin, violent “Alt-Info” has not released any letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin recently. A similar letter was published by the “Alliance of Patriots of Georgia” on February 21st, stressing the need for military neutrality between Georgia and Ukraine and the warming of relations with Russia. Alt-Info members responded to the letter by saying that they did not support the idea of neutrality because, according to Zura Makharadze, “now the Cold War begins and everyone is required to choose a party.” According to him, Georgia should become an ally of Russia.
About the Source
“Dzala Simartleshia” is a page created against the opponents of the “Georgian Dream”, which published fabricated quotes and falsified surveys in the name of the opposition during the first and second rounds of the 2021 local elections.
In October 2021, the page published five false pieces of information, including fake screenshots with the “TV Pirveli” logo attached to it. The posts published on the page are disseminated by fake accounts in various public groups.
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