Georgian Dream to sue BBC after article on use of chemical weapons against protesters

The ruling party of Georgia plans to sue the British corporation BBC after it published a story about the possible use of chemicals from the First World War to disperse protests in 2024. About it says in the statement of the Georgian Dream.

The political force stated that the article contained "absurd" and "false" information. The party rejected accusations against the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs of using a chemical agent to disperse protests.

The Georgian Dream claims that the media has not provided any facts to support the serious accusation, and all assumptions are based on the opinions of specific individuals, including participants in the rallies. The party also recalled the scandal with the BBC over the edited speech of the US president Donald Trumpaccusing the media of spreading fake news.

The political force reported that "we have decided to launch a legal dispute against the lying media in international courts."

"We will use all possible legal means to bring the so-called media that spreads lies to justice for spreading dirty, false accusations," the statement said.

On the morning of December 1, at the BBC published an article stating that a chemical agent from the First World War was used against protesters in Georgia in 2024. The media outlet collected testimonies from protesters who complained of shortness of breath, coughing, and vomiting that lasted for weeks.

The journalists talked to the protesters, as well as a number of chemical weapons experts, doctors, and informants from the Georgian police.

They came to the conclusion that the substance "camite" was used against the protesters. It was also used by French soldiers against the Germans during World War I. There is little evidence of its further use, but it is believed that the substance was phased out in the 1930s.

According to the BBC, it was replaced by the so-called tear gas. However, the substance used against Georgian protesters caused completely different symptoms.

According to the protesters, this substance could have been added to the water, which was then released from water cannons. At the same time, people noticed that the water "burned" when it hit their bodies.

Konstantin Chakhunashvili, a pediatrician who participated in the protests, said that after the water, his skin "burned" for several days, and when he tried to wash it off, it only made the situation worse.

About 350 people contacted them via social media, and nearly half said they had suffered from one or more side effects for more than 30 days. These long-term symptoms ranged from headaches to fatigue, coughing, shortness of breath, and vomiting.

Several high-level informants associated with the Special Tasks Department – the official name of Georgia's anti-riot police – helped the BBC determine the likely identity of the chemical, the article says.

Lasha Shergelashvili, the former head of the department's weapons division, believes that this is the same compound he was asked to test for use in water cannons in 2009.

According to him, the effect of the agent was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. After he stood close to the place of spraying, he found it difficult to breathe, and he and 15-20 colleagues who tested the substance could not easily wash it off.

Shergelashvili added that based on the results of the tests, he recommended not using this chemical. But, he said, despite this, it was still loaded into water cannon vehicles, and this continued until at least 2022, when he resigned and left the country.

A Georgian police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the compound used to load water cannons when Shergelashvili was in office was the same compound used during the crackdown on protests in late 2024.

• Protests have been going on in Georgia since November 2024 after the prime minister's statement of countries to suspend their movement towards the EU.
• On October 13, 2025, it was reported that in Georgia, the ruling party prepared further amendments to the legislation restricting street actions.