Several days ago, the report of the “Foreign Agents Registration Act” (FARA) was published in the Georgian media, which mentions the former president of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, in the record about the lobbying of the interests of Mikheil Saakashvili.
From July 24, media outlets with pro-government editorial policies disseminated the information that, according to FARA documents, Giorgi Margvelashvili received 11,500 USD from Giuli Alasania in exchange for making statements supporting Saakashvili and working on the petition. The articles of TV Imedi (1, 2), POSTV (1, 2, 3), pia.ge, for.ge, and spnews.io claimed that Margvelashvili was paid 11,559 USD for lobbying the interests of Saakashvili.
In addition to the pages named above, “Myth Detector” revealed 8 Facebook pages and 2 Facebook accounts involved in discrediting Margvelashvili, which published mocking posts and visuals. Thes pages and reports are as follows: Ar Agarevinebt, Georgia First, Corridor of Shame, Political Grave N5, Archive, Publicist.ge, Supporters of the Alliance of Patriots, Terenti Gldaneli (1, 2) and Journalist Fails.
The claim that the former President, Giorgi Margvelashvili, received monetary compensation for lobbying Mikheil Saakashvili is not confirmed by the document published by FARA. According to the document, Mikheil Saakashvili paid money to the company PR Newswire to distribute a press release, which concerned Margvelashvili’s petition.
The “Foreign Agents Registration Act” (FARA) is a law adopted in the United States of America in 1938, which obliges foreign agents of interest to periodically disclose information about their relationships with foreign actors (governments, organizations, or individuals), activities carried out, and financial details related to these activities.
The document, which mentions the fourth president of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, covers the six-month period until May 31, 2023, and was received by FARA’s registration department on June 6, 2023. The lobbying company GP International/GlobalPoint International, which was hired by Mikheil Saakashvili’s mother, Giuli Alasania, is named as the submitter of the document.
According to the document, on February 9-10, 2023, Mikheil Saakashvili paid 11,559 USD to PR Newswire, owned by the company Cision, to distribute a press release. The name of the mentioned press release is indicated in the document: “Fourth Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili Leads Coalition Effort to Save Former President Saakashvili’s Life.”
The coalition named in the press release refers to those European politicians who joined the petition prepared on behalf of Margvelashvili. The signatories of the petition expressed deep concern over the deterioration of Mikheil Saakashvili’s health condition and claimed that considering that it is impossible to save the life of the third president in Georgia, he should be sent abroad for treatment.
It should be noted that the FARA document also mentions another amount paid to the Cision; namely, on December 2-3, 2022, Saakashvili paid the company 1,841 USD for distributing a press release. The name of the mentioned press release is: “US Medical Experts Confirm Political Prisoner, Mikheil Saakashvili, has been Tortured and Poisoned While Imprisoned.”
Hence, the document published by FARA does not confirm that Giorgi Margvelashvili received money from Mikheil Saakashvili or another actor representing his interests.
Giorgi Margvelashvili and Giuli Alasani also responded to the disseminated information. Margvelashvili called these reports “dirty lies and disinformation” in a conversation with “Interpressnews”. Giuli Alasania confirmed that the money mentioned in the document was not received by Margvelashvili but by the company to spread the information and that the said information was reported in 88 countries in 11 different languages.
The Discreditation Campaign Pursued by Anti-Opposition Facebook Pages Against Margvelashvili
After the publication of the FARA report, in addition to spreading disinformation about Margvelashvili, eight anti-opposition and pro-government Facebook pages and 2 Facebook accounts published discrediting and mocking posts and defamatory images of Margvelashvili.
For example, the page Ar Agarevinebt,” which is linked to Gia Gachechiladze and Vato Shakarishvili, published three sponsored posts (1, 2, 3) aimed at discrediting Margvelashvili. All three posts are sponsored with less than USD 100. In one of the videos published on the page, Margvelashvili’s speech is replaced with the following quote from a Georgian movie: “I am a small man; I repeat what I have been told. Not because I believe in it, or because I don’t have my opinion. No, that’s just how the times brought it.
In addition, the page “Georgia First,” which is related to Vato Shakarishvili, published a caricature of Margvelashvili, depicting him sitting on the ground, throwing potatoes from one hand and holding dollar bills in the other.
The Facebook pages “Corridor of Shame” and “Political Grave N5,” as well as the Facebook account Terenti Gldaneli, published a visual in which Margvelashvili’s photo is inserted in the frame of the sales website mymarket.ge, noting that he can be rented for 11,500 USD. The Facebook page “Political Grave N5” also published a small section from “Data Tutashkhia”, where instead of the face of the character Kiku, who strips naked for money in the film, we see the face of Margvelashvili.
The Facebook page and Facebook account of Terenti Gldaneli (1, 2) and the Facebook account Journalist Fails published a photo collage of Giorgi Margvelashvili and Giuli Alasania, which is a mock version of one of the scenes from the Georgian TV series “Hot Dog.” The following inscription can be seen on the photo: “You will add 50 more posts to those interviews and bring them to me on Facebook.”
