Georgia's Security Service Summons Individuals Featured in BBC Probe on Alleged Use of Chemical Agents
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, December 4, 2025
The State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) has summoned several people who appeared in, or whose work was cited in, a BBC investigation that suggested Georgian authorities may have used the chemical compound camite to disperse protests in 2024.
The summonses follow an SSSG investigation into alleged abuse of official powers and possible assistance to foreign entities. Human rights groups say the agency seems more focused on pressuring those who documented potential violations than on clarifying what chemicals were used.
Those called in include pediatricians Constantine and Davit Chakhunashvili, their father Giorgi Chakhunashvili, Transparency International Georgia head Eka Gigauri, members of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, and citizen Zviad Maisashvili, who was severely beaten by riot police last year. All were either featured in the BBC film or had their research referenced in it. Georgian Dream leaders have rejected the investigation as a lie.
TI Georgia and GYLA criticized the summonses, stating that instead of explaining which substances were deployed during the November and December 2024 protests, authorities are questioning those who defend human rights. Gigauri and GYLA members chose to testify before a magistrate judge.
The three Chakhunashvilis were summoned because they co-authored a study on the health effects of tear gas used at peaceful demonstrations. The study, which the BBC cited, did not claim that camite was used. Another co-author, Gela Ghunashvili, was also summoned.
The BBC investigation drew on chemical weapons experts, riot police whistleblowers, and medical professionals to suggest that camite, known chemically as bromobenzyl cyanide, may have been deployed in the first days of the pro-EU demonstrations that began on November 28, 2024. The compound was used during World War I and discontinued in the 1930s due to health risks.
Civil society groups and medical workers had already raised concerns about unidentified substances, and protesters reported symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, coughing, shortness of breath, and vomiting after exposure to tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannon mixtures.
The SSSG also summoned Zviad Maisashvili, who appeared in the BBC documentary and was severely assaulted by riot police, as well as Droa activist Tata Khundadze, who recently posted photos of facial injuries she said were caused by crowd control weapons.
Irakli Kobakhidze defended the investigation on December 2, stating that helping an organization spread false information harmful to the state can be considered a criminal offense.
