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Georgian State Security Service: No banned substance used against protesters in Tbilisi

06 December 2025 15:18 (UTC +04:00)

The State Security Service names the substance that the Ministry of Internal Affairs used during the protests, APA reports, citing INTERPRESSNEWS.

According to the statement of the First Deputy Head of the State Security Service, Lasha Maghradze, the substance “camite”, which was last used during the First World War, has never been purchased by the MIA. According to him, an examination was conducted on the substances seized from the agency.

According to the State Security Service, on the night of December 4-5, the substance “chlorobenzylidene malononitrile” was used to control the crowds, and a solution of “propylene glycol” was used as a solvent. As for “camite”, it has never been purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“As you know, for several days now, the State Security Service has been conducting an investigation into a criminal case regarding both the information provided in the BBC report and the campaign conducted in Georgia based on it.

More than 160 investigative actions were conducted in this criminal case, and 93 witnesses were interviewed, including current and former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, doctors, experts, respondents interviewed in the British broadcaster’s report, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and other individuals. Various types of documentation have been seized from the Customs Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Revenue Service. The investigation seized 25 samples from the databases of the First and Second Divisions of the Special Tasks Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on which chemical expertise was conducted at the Levan Samkharauli National Forensics Bureau.

As a result of the aforementioned operational and investigative actions, it was established that the chemical powder, which was purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and has been used for crowd control during protests for years, was “chlorobenzylidene malononitrile”.

The said substance was purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs from a Jewish company on December 18, 2007 and March 27, 2009, together with the solvent “trichloroethylene”. During transportation, it was assigned the international shipping code UN3439, and the solvent liquid was assigned the shipping code UN1710. These codes are recorded in customs documentation. A 17.5-kilogram barrel was seized as a sample, in which the aforementioned powder was stored. An information sticker made by the organization supplying the substance was attached to it, which, along with a lot of other data, indicates the name of the aforementioned substance “chlorobenzylidine malononitrile”, as well as the assigned international transportation code UN3439", he said.