On June 9, the leader of the opposition United National Movement party Tina Bokuchava said that her wife, Kote Ioseliani, was kidnapped and forced to record a video apology to the son of the founder of the ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Bokuchava claims that last weekend, five men attacked Ioseliani near his home in Tbilisi. They blindfolded him, then forced him into a car and drove away in an unknown direction. According to the victim's wife, he was subjected to psychological pressure, including mentioning their young children.

Bokuchava believes that the interrogation took place in the office of the State Security Service of Georgia, which has been repeatedly accused of spying on the opposition. A few hours later, Ioseliani posted a short video on his Facebook page in which he apologized to 32-year-old Uta Ivanishvili and called his previous words a lie. Apparently, he is talking about the public hint made back in 2018 about the non-traditional sexual orientation of Bidzina Ivanishvili's son.

"It was a lie. There were certain circumstances under which I made this statement... I regret and apologize," Ioseliani said.

His wife is convinced that the kidnapping was revenge for her political activities and an attempt to silence the National Movement.

"They did everything to shut me up. They crossed the red line," Bokuchava said.

Vice Speaker of the Parliament, one of the leaders of the Georgian Dream, Gia Volsky, called these statements a “talentless performance” staged with the aim of “denigrating the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service of Georgia.” The fifth president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, who is in prison, in turn noted that this story is “in Kadyrov’s style,” and Tina Bokuchava is “the strongest political leader, and no one will force her to remain silent.”