As part of the ongoing investigation into the Chorchana incident, former Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure Maia Tskitishvili and Aleksandre Lomidze, resident of the village of Chorchana, have been summoned for questioning at the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Aleksandre Lomidze will arrive on June 17 at 11:00, and Maia Tskitishvili at 18:00.

The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office said it is probing the actions of Giorgi Gakharia, former Interior Minister/Prime Minister now leading the opposition For Georgia party, over the 2019 episode, when the Ministry of Internal Affairs placed a police checkpoint at the Tskhinvali occupation line near the village of Chorchana.

In a statement released on June 14, the Prosecutor’s Office said it studied “the action carried out by Giorgi Gakharia on August 24, 2019, near Chorchana village alongside the occupation line”, along with other issues as part of a broader “sabotage” investigation. The opening of the police checkpoint near Chorchana, Khashuri municipality, adjacent to the occupation line, led to a flare-up of tensions in August 2019 with de facto authorities in Tskhinvali, who demanded that the checkpoint be dismantled.