DISINFO: Candidate for Mayor of Zugdidi trades in human organs
SUMMARY
Mikheil Saakashvili’s wife, who is currently running for the Mayor of Zugdidi, trades on human organs. Saakashvili brought Georgian doctors and servicemen from Ukraine who now take wounded and newly killed soldiers out of an anti-terrorist operation zone. After that, they place these soldiers in specialised transport, where they remove organs from their bodies. A now-former employee of the Ukrainian Security Service disseminated a video exposing Saakashvili and his wife of their “black transplant” activities. The EU and the US have an interest in human organ trafficking.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative about Mikheil Saakashvili's family being involved in human organ trafficking. The claim reoccurred in the Georgian media in the context of the upcoming mayoral elections in Zugdidi, where Saakashvili's wife is running for office. No evidence is given to support the claim that the EU and the US have an interest in human organ trading. This is part of the reappearing pro-Kremlin narrative that human organ trafficking is systematic and is encouraged by the West. Furthermore, the video referred to as proof of the claim is manipulated (see section video montage). The video of an unspecified representative of Ukraine's Secret Service appeared on Youtube on September 23, 2015. The footage in the video was a fragment from the video uploaded on Youtube on August 9, 2014, by a user Диванный партизан (Couch partisan). A video containing analogous footage was also uploaded later, on May 5, 2015, by an information portal, Hunter News, with the title: Трупы детей, убитых украинскими карателями Луганск 18+ (Corpses of children killed by Ukrainian chasteners, Luhansk, 18+). The further debunking of the video can be found here.