Deputy Secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council (NSC), Batu Kutelia, said on March 21, that files submitted to NSC by one of the leaders of Bidzina Ivanishvili-led opposition coalition, Irakli Alasania, about alleged paramilitary groups “contains no valuable information.”

Alasania said on March 20 that he was sending evidence, supporting his allegations about the authorities setting up paramilitary groups, to the NSC for review and reaction. He also said that the evidence involved “full information about places of location of the paramilitary groups, about their members, about armament and finances.”

“There are no illegal militia groups in Georgia,” NSC deputy secretary Batu Kutelia told journalists on March 21. “There are only police, armed forces and reserve troops and these formations operate fully in line with laws. Allegations that these are illegal armed formations or predictions about possibility of Syrian scenario in Georgia are absurd which has no ground whatsoever.”

“Materials submitted [to NSC by Irakli Alasania] contain no valuable information whatsoever; there is only a list of first and last names of either acting or former police and army personnel,” Kutelia said.