"My husband was ambushed late at night near the entrance to our residence by five masked men. They attacked and abducted him — the real reason behind this was to intimidate and silence me. And I want to say this clearly, for everyone to hear: I am not afraid! I will not be silenced, and I will fight to dismantle your violent, treacherous regime," — said the chairwoman of “United National Movement” at a briefing.

According to Bokuchava, “the kidnappers pressured her husband for eight hours.”

"Some of the public saw the video my husband, Kote Ioseliani, published yesterday, where he appears to apologize for a public comment he made back in 2018 about Uta Ivanishvili. I want to tell the public what really happened before that video was recorded.

My husband was ambushed at night near the entrance of our building, by the Vake swimming pool, where we live with our three small children. Five masked individuals attacked him. Although they failed to cause serious physical harm, they forcibly put him into a car during the scuffle, blindfolded him, and tied his hands. He was kidnapped and taken in an unknown direction while blindfolded the entire time.

We cannot determine the exact location where he was held, but based on the distance and the route, we suspect he was taken to the so-called ‘Module’ building. Once there, the kidnappers put him under pressure for eight hours, threatening him and detailing his daily routes — including our 10-year-old child's school and the kindergarten of our two-and-a-half-year-old twins. They specifically threatened the safety of our children.

Although I tried to contact him throughout the night, he was denied access to his phone.

Everyone’s private life is their own, period. We all understand well that the statement Kote made about Uta Ivanishvili seven years ago — for which he publicly apologized just three days after making it — is not the real reason for what happened. That was just the pretext. The real reason was to scare and silence me.

Now I want to speak very clearly — to Bidzina Ivanishvili, to every member of his family, to those who ordered my husband’s kidnapping, including Gela Geladze — who, I’m told, used to be Vano Merabishvili’s loyal servant back when I was studying political science in the U.S. — I say this loud and clear: I am not afraid! I will not be silenced, and I will fight to dismantle your violent, treacherous regime," Bokuchava declared.

For context: Yesterday, Kote Ioseliani released a video in which he apologized to Bidzina Ivanishvili’s son, Uta Ivanishvili, for remarks he made about him several years ago.