Presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili, who was supported by the ruling party, said at a press conference on November 12 that she and her family received death threats via SMS and phone calls. She noted that she recognized the people responsible for these threats, but refused to disclose their identity. Yet, she described them as "former military personnel". Zurabishvili claims that the perpetrators are in contact with the opposition party United National Movement (UNM) and its leadership. In addition, the presidential candidate claimed that the sender had spoken on behalf of the military, which she called a "manipulation" and an "insult" to Georgian soldiers. At the press conference, Zurabishvili also called on Georgian NGOs that had "not reacted" to earlier cases of "hate speech, gender discrimination and political correctness" to condemn the death threats. The relations between the Georgian Government and a significant part of civil society are currently considered tense.

The UNM-led opposition coalition put out a statement strongly rejecting the allegations made by Zurabishvili. "The united opposition and its presidential candidate Grigol Washadze unequivocally condemn all forms of violence and threats against any public figure," claimed the statement issued on 12 November. The opposition believes that the government candidate's allegations could be used for election purposes if they were not investigated and evidence was revealed in due time.

The Georgian ombudsperson, Nino Lomdscharia, has already commented critically on the appeal of Zurabishvili to civil society representatives. The death threats are a crime and should therefore be dealt with by law enforcement agencies and not by civil society, she warned.

Shortly after the press conference on Monday, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed that Zurabishvili had received death threats on 10 November and that criminal proceedings were subsequently initiated.

In the past, Zurabishvili and the leadership of the governing party "Georgian Dream" repeatedly accused the UNM of spreading "aggression", "disinformation" and "hatred" against the presidential candidate.