As reported by the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs, the investigation established that during the parliamentary elections, "the accused unlawfully placed ballots in the box." Two men aged 40 and 34 have been detained.
According to local media, one of the detainees is a deputy of "Georgian Dream" Rovshan Iskandarov. Shortly before his detention, he accused the opposition of provoking his actions, claiming they "drove him to it."
On the day of the elections, a video was circulated on Telegram channels showing the deputy chairman of the Marneuli City Council, Rovshan Iskandarov, along with another man, stuffing a stack of ballots into the box at polling station No. 69. Iskandarov claimed that he placed the ballots of voters in the box, whom the opposition representatives did not allow to vote. "They were engaged in campaigning and propaganda at the polling station and did not allow potential voters of "Georgian Dream" to place their ballots in the box. <...> I lost my temper and in anger snatched the ballots from their hands and placed them in the box," said the deputy of the ruling party "Georgian Dream."
Under Georgian law, ballot stuffing is punishable by up to two years in prison.
The Georgian prosecutor's office announced an investigation into possible falsifications in the recent parliamentary elections on October 30. The basis was an appeal from the country's Central Election Commission. The President of the country, Salome Zourabichvili, who spoke of "total falsifications" in the elections, was summoned on October 31 for questioning to present the available evidence. Salome Zourabichvili refused to go to the prosecutor's office. "It turns out the prosecutor's office is waiting for evidence from me. I thought it should be the other way around — the investigative body should find the evidence itself, as happens in any normal country. I don't know of any precedents where an investigative body requests evidence from the president during elections," said Zourabichvili at a briefing.
The Georgian prosecutor's office reported that public figures who claimed mass falsifications during the elections refuse to cooperate with the investigation and do not provide any information. According to the department, no less than 47 criminal cases are currently being investigated regarding violations during the elections.