On June 9, 2021, a Facebook user სამყარო სამყარო (World World) shared a post with a photo and a quote by the Head of Tbilisi Pride, which claimed that he was allegedly threatening pro-Russian activists: “Our time will come too and I am already promising that Stalin’s repressions will be nothing in comarison”.
The original version of the post was disseminated by another Facebook user, სტრიჟაკი ლია (Strizhak Lia) on June 7, 2019. It had 40 shares as of June 10, 2021.
The quote allegedly by Giorgi Tabagari is fake. There is no such statement in open sources. Myth Detector also contacted Tabagari, who stated that the quote is fake.
Such statement by Tabagari cannot be found via open sources. Myth Detector contacted Giorgi Tabagari to verify the information.
In a phone call, he confirmed that he has never made such a statement.
Giorgi Tabagari: “A lot of people thought that I could actually have said such a thing and it sadly continues even today… Surely, I have not said anything like this. It is a completely made up sentence. I have not said such a thing under any context.”
The post was initially disseminated on June 7, 2019 by Strizhak Lia. It came with an assessment from the said Facebook user. The user has indicated Tbilisi City Assembly as her employer.
The post was actively shared between June 7, 2019 and June 12, 2021. A new wave of activity came on June 7, 2021 when Nina Kitiashvili shared it. After this share, the post was shared by five more users – one of them was World World. The given page stands out with anti-vaccination posts and frequently shares disinformation about the coronavirus and the anti-coronavirus vaccines. The page also disseminates posts about the Antichrist and the second coming.
The photo with the fake quote comes with a logo of Anti-Paradox, a now defunct Facebook page. It used to disseminate photo/text manipulations and disinformation, as well as anti-liberal, sexist, xenophobic, and homophobic posts. In the run-up to IDAHOT on May 17, 2017, the page published posts calling to violence against LGBT individuals.
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