In an English-language written statement released on May 6, office of the Georgian President said that the authorities “would not speculate on the details” of the Mukhrovani “incident and would instead allow the legal system to fully investigate what transpired.”

“He [President Saakashvili] emphasized that the incident must not be used for political or other purposes,” the statement reads.

The statement was released in connection with President Saakashvili’s meeting with the general staff and senior Defense Ministry officials on May 6.

“The President thanked the leadership of the armed forces for their calm, orderly response to yesterday's incident at the Mukhrovani base, and for following Constitutional and democratic protocols. The General Staff confirmed to the President that the country's military is operating normally and that the Mukhrovani incident was an isolated one,” the statement reads.

On May 5 the Georgian Interior Ministry said that the mutiny in Mukhrovani base was organized by a group of non-active former military servicemen with links to Russia with the purpose “to at least thwart the NATO exercise and maximum to trigger a full-scale mutiny in the army.”

Defense Minister Davit Sikharulidze said on May 5: “A larger scale mutiny was planned and it aimed at thwarting NATO exercises and an overall goal was to overthrow the government with use of military force.”